Pranab Mukherjee's Daughter Sharmistha Hits Out At Rahul Gandhi's 'Bhakt Chelas'

New Delhi: Sharmistha Mukherjee, the daughter of former President Pranab Mukherjee, stepped up her attack against Congress MP Rahul Gandhi amid the row over the memorial for former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who passed away last week.

She also raised questions as to why no Congress Working Committee (CWC - the highest decision-making body of the Congress) meeting was convened after her father's death.

In a post on X, Mukherjee, on Monday, said, “Rahul’s bhakt-chelas who call my father sanghi for his RSS visit, I dare them to question their leader on why did he hug Narendra modi in parliament whom his mother called ‘maut ka saudagar’? By their convoluted logic, Rahul then should be seen as his accomplice.”

She further attacked the Congress leader’s supporters, stating, “All the best to @RahulGandhi to revive Congress with this bunch of vicious fools & sycophants! Now go & unleash your ‘Nafrat ki dukandars’ on me. I give a damn!”

"The Congress has to answer for this. I can only state the fact. But I would like to just add, that I do not know whether it was deliberate or sheer negligence. What are the conventions in such a grand old party?" she asked.

"If there is this loss of institutional memory, if Rahul Gandhi and the people around him do not know how the Congress acted in these earlier situations, that itself is a serious and sad state of affairs within the Congress," said Mukherjee.

Mukherjee had earlier said that decay has set in the Congress and stressed the need for serious introspection on the "sad state of affairs" in the party.

Mukherjee lamented that several old Congress workers feel alienated from the party today due to the current state of affairs and the lack of an ideology among the top leaders.

Asked about recognising the contributions of non-dynastic leaders in the Congress, she said, “Let us not forget what was done to (former prime minister) P V Narasimha Rao.”

"The whole Congress ecosystem, as in, its social media was relentlessly trolling me and my father over this and some other issues. The kind of language that was used on me and one of the tallest leaders like my father shows that there is a real rot in Congress.

"The Congress, rather than unleashing trolls on social media, should do serious introspection that why a person like me who believed in the hardcore Congress ideology, today feels alienated by the party," she said.

Earlier, in a post on X, Mukherjee said, “When baba passed away, Congress didn't even bother to call CWC for a condolence meeting. A senior leader told me it's not done for Presidents. That's utter rubbish as I learned later from baba's diaries that on K R Narayanan's death, CWC was called and condolence msg was drafted by baba only.”

She, however, advocated for a memorial for Singh and said the former prime minister should also receive the Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian award, posthumously.

"I would not like to say anything about this, I am not associated with the Congress anymore, I have quit politics. The Congress needs to clarify what Rahul Gandhi has said.

"I think the demand to have a memorial for Manmohan Singh is absolutely justified. He was the architect of economic reforms in India, he was the father of India's growth story, and he was a two-time prime minister. So the demand for a memorial in his honour is absolutely justified. Also, on behalf of the ordinary citizens of India, I demand Bharat Ratna for him, he thoroughly deserves it," Mukherjee said.

Singh, who was 92, passed away on December 26 at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). (with PTI inputs)