Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's assassination in October 1984 had surely pushed Indian politics into a serious crisis. Soon, the name of Pranab Mukherjee, then Finance Minister, cropped up as her likely successor. After a very short phase of speculation, the Congress decided that this honour could not be accorded to anyone outside the Nehru-Gandhi family and Rajiv Gandhi was sworn in to the top office.
This decision did not go well down with Mukherjee, who was subsequently sidelined in the party. Mukherjee's annoyance became public as he soon left the Congress to form his own party. The experiment was short-lived; the Bengal politician bought peace with Rajiv Gandhi and returned to the Congress-fold in 1989.
The rest would surely have been history, but for two more instances when Mukherjee came close to being Prime Minister. First in 1991, when P.V. Narasimha Rao tipped him to the post, and then in 2004, when Manmohan Singh emerged as the surprise choice of then Congress chief Sonia Gandhi for the high office. It was only towards the end of UPA-II in July 2012 that Mukherjee was appointed the country's President. In retrospect, it is hard to guess whether this appointment was a reward or a punishment, given that Mukherjee was pretty active in politics when he was made President.
The media has once again started to speculate on Mukherjee being the Congress's choice for prime ministerial office in 2019. Mukherjee, true to his statesman-like nature, has remained completely silent on the guessing game. His daughter Sharmistha Mukherjee has categorically denied that her father is even remotely interested in re-entering active politics after having served the Republic's highest office. Itching as it is, a section of the media appears to be in a tearing hurry to somehow write out the headline - 'Ex-President wants to be PM next'!
Two factors are being alluded to as an indicator of this tectonic shift in Indian politics. The first is the belief that Mukherjee can be the 'consensus choice' of the Opposition - united or otherwise, led by the Congress or not - for the high office. A subset of this line is also being offered as a cause. And that is: Since Congress chief Rahul Gandhi doesn't seem to be 'yet ready' to be Prime Minister, Mukherjee can surely be an option.
The second reason emerged after the former President decided to address an annual function of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) in Nagpur last week where he spoke his mind on the plural and diverse nature of Indian society and polity. The suggestion is that post-June 7, Mukherjee has emerged as the conscience-keeper of what India stands for and, therefore, a strong contender for the top job. This is buttressed by an out-of-the-blue and insignificant speculation by Shiv Sena politician Sanjay Raut who guessed that it could be the RSS's own way of 'getting back' to Prime Minister Modi in 2019. The unsubstantiated subtext is that the RSS doesn't want Modi to return as Prime Minister.
That indeed appears to be too tall an order for the RSS because it would mean the Sangh decisively sidelining 'one of its own' in favour of Mukherjee as the next Prime Minister. It would also mean Mukherjee actually deciding to take a call to be the constitutional subordinate of the high office he served from 2012 to 2017. In effect, the parallel, as it were, amounts to a former occupant of Buckingham Palace moving in to 10-Downing Street at the next opportunity!
That the Congress appears to be in a mess is no big secret. Rahul Gandhi hasn't yet been able to catch the imagination of the electorate at large as well as of the many competing anti-BJP outfits, who could be open to innovative ways to stop Modi's roll at least theoretically. The Congress has just about managed to stick to power in Karnataka, playing second fiddle to Janata Dal (Secular), in a desperate face-saver. It could very well be looking for a Saviour, but Citizen Mukherjee, at least for the moment, doesn't a
Will Pranab bite the PM bait a fourth time?
By IndianMandarins - 2018-06-11 12:39:47
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's assassination in October 1984 had surely pushed Indian politics into a serious crisis. Soon, the name of Pranab Mukherjee, then Finance Minister, cropped up as her likely successor. After a very short phase of speculation, the Congress decided that this honour could not be accorded to anyone outside the Nehru-Gandhi family and Rajiv Gandhi was sworn in to the top office.
This decision did not go well down with Mukherjee, who was subsequently sidelined in the party. Mukherjee's annoyance became public as he soon left the Congress to form his own party. The experiment was short-lived; the Bengal politician bought peace with Rajiv Gandhi and returned to the Congress-fold in 1989.
The rest would surely have been history, but for two more instances when Mukherjee came close to being Prime Minister. First in 1991, when P.V. Narasimha Rao tipped him to the post, and then in 2004, when Manmohan Singh emerged as the surprise choice of then Congress chief Sonia Gandhi for the high office. It was only towards the end of UPA-II in July 2012 that Mukherjee was appointed the country's President. In retrospect, it is hard to guess whether this appointment was a reward or a punishment, given that Mukherjee was pretty active in politics when he was made President.
The media has once again started to speculate on Mukherjee being the Congress's choice for prime ministerial office in 2019. Mukherjee, true to his statesman-like nature, has remained completely silent on the guessing game. His daughter Sharmistha Mukherjee has categorically denied that her father is even remotely interested in re-entering active politics after having served the Republic's highest office. Itching as it is, a section of the media appears to be in a tearing hurry to somehow write out the headline - 'Ex-President wants to be PM next'!
Two factors are being alluded to as an indicator of this tectonic shift in Indian politics. The first is the belief that Mukherjee can be the 'consensus choice' of the Opposition - united or otherwise, led by the Congress or not - for the high office. A subset of this line is also being offered as a cause. And that is: Since Congress chief Rahul Gandhi doesn't seem to be 'yet ready' to be Prime Minister, Mukherjee can surely be an option.
The second reason emerged after the former President decided to address an annual function of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) in Nagpur last week where he spoke his mind on the plural and diverse nature of Indian society and polity. The suggestion is that post-June 7, Mukherjee has emerged as the conscience-keeper of what India stands for and, therefore, a strong contender for the top job. This is buttressed by an out-of-the-blue and insignificant speculation by Shiv Sena politician Sanjay Raut who guessed that it could be the RSS's own way of 'getting back' to Prime Minister Modi in 2019. The unsubstantiated subtext is that the RSS doesn't want Modi to return as Prime Minister.
That indeed appears to be too tall an order for the RSS because it would mean the Sangh decisively sidelining 'one of its own' in favour of Mukherjee as the next Prime Minister. It would also mean Mukherjee actually deciding to take a call to be the constitutional subordinate of the high office he served from 2012 to 2017. In effect, the parallel, as it were, amounts to a former occupant of Buckingham Palace moving in to 10-Downing Street at the next opportunity!
That the Congress appears to be in a mess is no big secret. Rahul Gandhi hasn't yet been able to catch the imagination of the electorate at large as well as of the many competing anti-BJP outfits, who could be open to innovative ways to stop Modi's roll at least theoretically. The Congress has just about managed to stick to power in Karnataka, playing second fiddle to Janata Dal (Secular), in a desperate face-saver. It could very well be looking for a Saviour, but Citizen Mukherjee, at least for the moment, doesn't a
