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The controversy started when Sharmistha Mukherjee said that the Congress did not bother about the CWC meeting after the death of Pranab Mukherjee in 2020. His brother Abhijit said the COVID-19 curbs were there.
A rift has erupted between Sharmistha and Abhijit Mukherjee over the Congress barring the CWC from meeting her father and former President Pranab Mukherjee. (Agencies)
Pranab Mukherjee’s daughter, Sharmistha Mukherjee, has spoken strongly against her brother Abhijit Mukherjee for defending the Congress, sparking a family row over a memorial to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The controversy started after Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking a separate memorial for Manmohan Singh, who died at the age of 92 on December 26.
Sharmistha Mukherjee said that when her father and former President of India died in 2020, the Congress did not bother to call a condolence meeting of the Congress Working Committee. According to him, a senior Congress leader told him that they are not the President of India.
When my father died, the Congress did not even bother to call a condolence meeting of the CWC 4. A senior leader told me that 4 Presidents are not made. That is rubbish as I later learned from my father’s diaries that on the death of KR Narayanan, CWC was called and a condolence message was written only by my father Sharmistha Mukherjee (@Sharmistha_GK) December 27, 2024
However, his brother Abhijit Mukherjee had a markedly different reaction to the matter, who asserted that the curbs of COVID-19 were present at the time of Pranab Mukherjee’s death in 2020. Pranab Mukherjee passed away at the age of 84 after being diagnosed with COVID-19.
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Speaking to news agency ANI, Abhijit Mukherjee defended the Congress saying, “When my father died, it was the time of COVID-19. There were many restrictions that were imposed and that is why people could not meet. Even (Then-Delhi CM Arvind) Kejriwal administration did not even allow family members to visit. Only 20 family and friends were there.”
“Congress wanted to hold a meeting but they couldn’t (due to COVID-19) but they came to visit. Even Prime Minister Modi, Rahul Gandhi and other top leaders came,” he said. “I think he (Sharmistha) is talking about whether there was a CWC meeting when they missed the right address, or there is no separate CWC meeting for his body. . But later, they fixed the process and they do it regularly.”
Strongly reacting to her brother’s words, Sharmistha addressed X and said, “Shame on the person who, because of small crumbs, wants to rejoin the party whose followers torture their father day in and day out in the worst possible way. “
“He’s really painted. SICK!”, she commented, referring to Abhijit’s controversial “tied and painted” remarks aimed at protests over the 2012 Nirbhaya rape case, which sparked outrage. Sharmistha also attached screenshots, where Abhijit had reportedly said earlier that his father had been “humiliated ” by Congress.
Narrating the controversy surrounding Manmohan Singh’s cremation, Mukherjee said, “I don’t think there should be any controversy.” We want a memorial (of him). I urge the government and fully approve the request of Congress President Mallikarjun to the government, they should think about it. “