Stop Memoir, Says Pranab Mukherjee's Son; Please Don't, Responds Daughter

Pranab Mukherjee's last book, teased as a tell-all memoir by its publisher, has caused a public fight between his son Abhijit Mukherjee and daughter Sharmishtha Mukherjee, both Congress leaders. First, Abhijit Mukherjee tweeted that he wanted to vet the memoirs and asked the publishers to stop the book before his written consent. Then Sharmistha Mukherjee told off her brother for seeking "cheap publicity" and forbade him from creating "unnecessary hurdles" in the release of their father's book.

Abhijit Mukherjee's surprising request came days after the release of excerpts in which the former President blames Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh for the Congress's exit from power.

In tweets today, Abhijit Mukherjee, a former Congress MP, said "motivated excerpts" were circulating in "certain media platforms" without his consent.

"I , the son of the author of the Memoir 'The Presidential Memoirs' request you to kindly stop the publication of the memoir as well as motivated excerpts which is already floating in certain media platforms without my written consent," Mr Mukherjee posted.

"Since my father is no more , I being his son want to go through the contents of the final copy of the book before it's publication as I believe , had my father been alive today , he too would have done the same," he wrote.

"Therefore , I being his son request You to immediately stop it's publication without my written consent till I go through its contents ! I have already sent you a detailed letter in this regard which will reach You soon!"

Two hours later, his sister Sharmistha hung him out to dry, even calling him out for the title error that he had himself amended in a tweet.

"I, daughter of the author of the memoir 'The Presidential Years', request my brother @ABHIJIT_LS not to create any unnecessary hurdles in publication of the last book written by our father. He completed the manuscript before he fell sick," wrote Sharmistha Mukherjee.

"The final draft contains my dads' hand written notes and comments that have been strictly adhered to. The views expressed by him are his own & no one should try to stop it from being published for any cheap publicity. That would be the greatest disservice to our departed father," she said.

Her parting shot: "Btw bro, the title of the book is 'The Presidential Years', not 'The Presidential Memoirs'."

In the final volume of "The Presidential Years", Pranab Mukherjee, who died in August, writes that "some members of the Congress" believed if he had become Prime Minister in 2004 instead of Manmohan Singh, the party would not have lost power. The memoir drops as the Congress's leadership, mainly the Gandhis, faces open criticism from some leaders over the party's apparent drift and sliding appeal.

"Some members of the Congress have theorized that, had I become the PM in 2004, the party might have averted the 2014 Lok Sabha drubbing. Though I don't subscribe to this view, I do believe that the party's leadership lost political focus after my elevation as president. While Sonia Gandhi was unable to handle the affairs of the party, Dr (Manmohan) Singh's prolonged absence from the House put an end to any personal contact with other MPs," Dr Mukherjee writes, according to excerpts released by publishers Rupa.

Mr Mukherjee also compares the two Prime Ministers he worked with - Manmohan Singh and his successor Narendra Modi.

"I believe that the moral authority to govern vests with the PM. The overall state of the nation is reflective of the functioning of the PM and his administration. While Dr Singh was preoccupied with saving the coalition, which took a toll on governance, Modi seemed to have employed a rather autocratic style of governance during his first term, as seen by the bitter relationship among the government, the legislature and the judiciary. Only time will tell if there is a better understanding on such matters in the second term of this government," he writes, according to the excerpts.

While releasing a previous part of the book at a function in Rashtrapati Bhawan, Mr Mukherjee had made it clear that his diaries and notes would be in the safe custody of his daughter after his death and had also remarked that "some parts should never be published".