R Krishna Das
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee banked on “Bengali Pride” to take on BJP in the recently concluded state polls but forgot to recall that she had repugned the candidature of Pranab Mukherjee, a statesman from the state, for the Presidential election.
Presidential elections were due in July 2012 and Pranab Mukherjee, who enjoyed very high esteem in the party at that time, was also in the reckoning. His contribution to the party and the Nation had been immense during his long political career spanning over decades.
Pranab Da, as he was fondly known, had emerged as crisis manager of the government on numerous occasions right from Indira Gandhi to Dr Manmohan Singh’s regimes. His political understanding was highly regarded by the party and the leadership across the political spectrum.
Veteran Congress leader M L Fotedar in his autobiography The Chinar Leaves mentioned that a view was also gaining ground that the elections to the 16th Lok Sabha, due in 2014, could throw a hung Parliament. The President was expected to play a vital role in government formation in these circumstances. “Pranab Mukherjee, with his vast political experience and understanding of the national issues was being thought of as the ideal choice for that scenario,” Fotedar said.
A process of consultation was initiated with other parties to ascertain their views on the matter. Fotedar added, “During discussion with Trinamool Congress, Mamata Banerjee bowled a googly by proposing the names of Dr Manmohan Singh, the incumbent PM and that of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, the former president.” She was immediately supported by Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Mamata Banerjee was intransigently opposing Pranab Da’s candidature. She however had to take a complete U-turn from her earlier when senior Congress leaders made it clear that her party, Trinamool Congress, would have to quit the UPA and the government unless it voted in favour of Mukherjee, said another senior Congress leader. “It was made clear to her that voting against Mukherjee or even abstaining was not an option,” he added.
The former Trinamool Congress leader, Dinesh Trivedi revealed another fact. Mamata Banerjee had sensed a revolt in the party to back Pranab Da as a few TMC members in Parliament were planning to support Mukherjee.
Banerjee was visibly unhappy and frustrated while announcing her decision to back Pranab Da. For, she attributed it to political compulsions. “It really hurt to take this decision. The mind is left with sadness. However, we took the decision in the larger interest of democracy, in the larger interest of coalition politics,” she told a press conference later.
