Was he the best Prime Minister India never had ??
The Central government has allocated land at the Rashtriya Smriti Sthal within the Rajghat complex in Delhi for a memorial dedicated to former President Pranab Mukherjee, who passed away in August 2020.
Mukherjee's daughter, Sharmistha Mukherjee, expressed her gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the decision, calling it a "gracious" and "unexpected" gesture.
On Tuesday, Sharmistha shared a letter dated January 1 from the Land and Development Office (L&DO) of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, informing her of the approval.
As per the letter, the site will be part of the Rashtriya Smriti complex, a section of the Rajghat, and will house the memorial for the late president.
After meeting with the Prime Minister to thank him, Sharmistha remarked on how the gesture reflected the spirit of respect that her father valued.
"It's more cherished considering that we didn't ask for it. Immensely touched by this unexpected but truly gracious gesture by PM...Baba used to say that state honours shouldn't be asked for, they should be offered. I'm so grateful that PM Modi did this to honour Baba's memory.
It doesn't affect Baba where he is now-beyond applause or criticism. But for his daughter, words are not sufficient to express my joy," she said.
Pranab Mukherjee, who served as the 13th President of India from 2012 to 2017, had a political career spanning five decades. A senior leader of the Indian National Congress, he held key ministerial portfolios, including Finance Minister from 2009 to 2012, before his election as President.
Mukherjee was conferred with India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, in 2019 by his successor, President Ram Nath Kovind.
Sharmistha, a former Congress leader herself, had earlier voiced disappointment over the Congress party's response to her father's death.
She noted that the Congress Working Committee (CWC) had not convened a formal meeting to pass a condolence resolution, despite Mukherjee's decades-long association with the party.
"Before becoming president, he was a stalwart Congress leader for 45 years. He was associated with CWC for 30 years," she said. She added that while Sonia Gandhi had sent her a personal letter, the absence of an institutional condolence resolution felt jarring.
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| blogger |
Sharmistha further pointed out that, contrary to claims that presidents were above party lines, her father's own diaries revealed that a condolence meeting was held for former President KR Narayanan.
"When Baba died, I was in active politics and part of the Congress. I was shocked that no formal CWC was called... My father drafted the condolence message when KR Narayanan passed away," she said.
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| Pranab and L K Advani : Two Bharat Ratna awardees |
When Bharat Ratna was announced for him by the Modi Govt in 2019 --
in a blog I wrote ---
"All throughout his life, Pranab Mukherjee has been a Congressman opposed to BJP and RSS politics. But by this decision, Mr Modi has shown that some decisions ought to be taken rising above party politics.
Congress regimes in 60 years never entertained the idea of conferring such awards to non Congress leaders. But Modi government is different," Virendra Sachdeva of BJP's Good Governance cell told UNI (blogger was with news agency then)
Sachadeva further said: "Look at the irony Congress did not make Pranab babu the Prime Minister, but today justice has been done to Bengal's one of the tallest leaders of our time".
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