From advice to Modi to views on Rahul, daughter reveals all in upcoming Pranab biography

New Delhi, Nov 27: During his tenure as India's 13th President, Pranab Mukherjee had advised Prime Minister Narendra Modi to always acknowledge the contributions of Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi.

This and other nuggets of Mukherjee's life from an unprepossessing village in West Bengal's Birbhum district to a roller-coaster career thereafter are the highlights of an about-to-be-released biography penned by his daughter, classical dancer Sharmishtha Mukherjee.

The book, titled 'Pranab, My Father: A Daughter Remembers', is being brought out by Rupa Publications.

Among the other details Sharmishtha Mukherjee has been able to glean from her father's personal diaries as well as memories of her conversations with him include his unfulfilled ambition to become prime minister because of his inability to emerge as the 'number one person' to earn Sonia Gandhi's trust, the personality cult around the Nehru-Gandhi family, Rahul Gandhi's lack of charisma and political understanding, and Mamata Banerjee's opposition to his nomination as the presidential candidate.

What makes the biography special is that it draws extensively from Mukherjee's diaries, where he freely unburdened his mind.

The book is also a mirror to the father-daughter relationship between Pranab Mukherjee and Sharmishtha.

As the media release on the book puts it: "To his daughter, Pranab Mukherjee was Baba, the workaholic; the history teacher who narrated events in the spirit of adda at dinner time; and the devoutly religious man who never imposed his faith on his daughter."

Billed as a "sweeping, multigenerational narrative from a flickering lamp in a remote village of West Bengal to the glittering chandeliers of India's capital", the highly anticipated biography is expected to shed more light on the man who never became prime minister, despite heading an array of key ministries, including Finance, Defence, External Affairs and Commerce, and being a member of the Congress Working Committee for 23 years.