'Pranabda' as president

Book review of The Presidential Years 2012-2017

Autobiographies are fascinating because, for the most part, they tell the truth, not just about the lives of individuals but also the circumstances in which they lived, the choices they made and the events they witnessed. Pranab Mukherjee held many important positions in government and the latest tranche of his autobiography, which was published after his death, makes for compelling reading.

We do know from other sources that the late President would not have said no to a second term. And hearing the paeans of praise for his statesman-like qualities from everyone in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, he was seduced into believing the Modi government would be open to the idea. But when he put the proposition to the prime minister, Narendra Modi reportedly told him gently that he had, after all, been a candidate of the Congress, so it was up to the Congress to renominate him! Obviously, this information is unconfirmed and does not find a place in the book, but a few of his trusted friends can testify to it.

The adoption of Pranab Mukherjee or “Pranabda” by the BJP was so fervent (and must make the present President, who is a BJP nominee, feel positively peevish) that it could only have been a political trap and makes you wonder about the naiveté of powerful people. On the other hand, Mukherjee makes it clear in the book that he was no pushover. He had his doubts about demonetisation. He never submitted drafts of his speech for “clearance” by the cabinet. And he says he never minced his words when it came to government performance.

Mukherjee’s most disarming quality was that he was always completely honest. So many “versions” of events that the government of the day proffered have been contextualised much more accurately in the book, making a lot of puzzles fall into place.

Take India’s relations with Bhutan. Most believe that it was India that unilaterally offered to amend the 1949 treaty of friendship which has a provision for joint security of India and Bhutan.

But the book explains that the proposal to revise the treaty was first mooted by Bhutan, not India in 2007 when Mukherjee was External Affairs Minister (EAM). India tried its best, using the combined powers of persuasion of then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Mukherjee himself, to get Bhutan to drop the idea, fearing it would open up a Pandora’s box. But New Delhi was presented with a virtual fait accompli  because the then king, Jigme Singye, proposed  a draft of the revised treaty which had a “common security concept” as opposed to joint security. This is a fascinating insight into the thinking of a country that had managed to beat back terrorists from north east India with the help of Indian forces from subverting Bhutan just years earlier, using those very treaty clauses of joint security. Did Bhutan begin to think that India was doing too much to help and going forward, it could be a problem?

The Presidential Years 2012-2017 

Author: Pranab Mukherjee

Publisher: Rupa Publications

Pages: 197; Price: Rs 695

On relations between India and Nepal, we learn that as EAM, Mukherjee took a decision contrary to the position taken by the prime minister and it proved a game-changer. Nepal was up in arms against the King and although India had helped cement a rainbow coalition of political parties, it was always conscious that it lay open to the charge of interfering in the internal affairs of a neighbour.  Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran and Congress leader and member of the Kashmir royal family, Karan Singh, had together visited Kathmandu in a bid to appear even-handed. But it was clear that the King was fighting his last battle while appearing to make concessions to political leaders. The tipping point came while Manmohan Singh was abroad and it was to Mukherjee that Mr Saran turned. On Mukherjee’s direction, India junked monarchy in favour of political parties contradicting Manmohan Singh’s public “whatever the people of Nepal wanted” position. Mukherjee promised he would clear the matter with Mr Singh when he returned. It was a bold change of track and, in hindsight, the correct one.

There are many other nuggets. As president, Mukherjee visited China in 2016. Although interpreters were in assistance, suddenly, President Xi Jinping dismissed the interpreters and began quizzing Mukherjee in English on the constitution and other provisions of India’s governance system. The only time he sought the interpreter was when the issue of the McMahon Line came up.

The conversation without aides or interpreters carried on for almost an hour with none of the other guests having any inkling what it was about. It had then foreign secretary S Jaishankar so worried that he confided in the President’s secretary Omita Paul that he couldn’t imagine what the two presidents were talking about for so long. Later, Mukherjee calmed the foreign secretary down and told him that the only thing that had been discussed was India’s constitution and its functioning since the 1950s.

As president, Mukherjee hosted US President Barack Obama at the Republic Day parade. It suddenly began to rain. There was a security guard, holding an umbrella for guests. But because of his height, for Mukherjee, a raised platform had been constructed which had neither a ceiling nor an umbrella. He writes: “My distress was aggravated because I had both rainwater and water from the umbrella of an occupant near the chair, pouring on me!” The President of India was wet through by the time the parade ended, though an official had the foresight to place an overcoat around him and a “Russian cap” on his head.

The book has been written with clarity, elegance and perspective that only years in public service can bring. 

It is to be savoured.