There has always been speculation in political circles that Mukherjee, a veteran Congressman since Indira Gandhi days, wanted to become the PM in 2014.
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Friday that former President Pranab Mukherjee had every reason to "feel the grievance" that he was more suited for the top job in 2014, when Singh became the PM as the UPA coalition government continued for a second term.
Singh's remarks came during the launch of a book, titled 'The Coalition Years: 1996-2002', penned by Mukherjee. They brought into the spotlight the much speculated theme of political rivalry between Singh and Mukherjee within the Congress circles, and Mukherjee reportedly being uncomfortable with working under Singh.
There has always been speculation in political circles that Mukherjee, a veteran Congressman since Indira Gandhi days, wanted to become the PM in 2014.
In his book as well, Mukherjee has said that he was "reluctant" to join the government and had informed Sonia Gandhi accordingly. This was after Sonia named Singh as her choice for the post.
As the RBI Governor, Singh had served under Mukherjee, when the latter was Finance Minister in the Indira Gandhi Cabinet, post Emergency. Singh, however, insisted that both had a relationship of "deep and abiding friendship", which was never affected by this issue.
Tracing his long relationship with Mukherjee to 1970, Singh said: "Then came 2004, Sonia ji chose me to be the PM and Pranab ji was the most distinguished colleague I had." Sending the audience, including Sonia into peals of laughter, Singh said: "He (Mukherjee) had every reason to feel the grievance that he was better qualified than I was to become the PM but he also knew that I had no choice and any part in the decision. like him."
Showering encomiums on Mukherjee, Singh said he was a "politician by choice" and "one of the greatest politicians living in our age". "I became a politician by default, when the then PM P V Narsimha Rao invited me to become the Finance Minister," he added.
The former PM said he had the highest regards for Mukherjee and NCP Chief Sharad Pawar in the UPA Cabinet and he recognised that both of them were men of great calibre, whose voice needed to heard and whose views have to be respected.
Talking further about the level of trust and respect he had for Mukherjee, Singh recalled how he had constituted the Group of Ministers mostly headed by Mukherjee in the UPA government, to speed up decisions and how Mukherjee always came up with solutions.
Mukherjee had written in in his book that after the 2004 election victory when Sonia declined the offer to become to Prime Minister, there was intense speculation in the party and the media about her choice.
Meanwhile, Mukherjee wrote in his book: "Within the Congress party, the consensus was that the incumbent should be a political leader with experience in party affairs and administration. Finally, she named Dr Manmohan Singh as her choice and he accepted. The prevalent expectation was that I would be the next choice for PM after Sonia Gandhi declined. This expectation was possibly based on the fact that I had extensive experience in government while Singh's vast experience was as a civil servant with five years as a reformist finance minister."
In his speech at the function, Mukherjee described Congress as a coalition in itself, as it brough all ideas on one platform. The event was attended by an array of Opposition leaders, including Sonia, Rahul Gandhi, CPI-M's Sitaram Yechury, former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav, CPI's D Raja and S Sudhakar Reddy, and DMK's Kanimozhi.
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