TIA NEWS /
President Pranab Mukherjee has held former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao fully responsible for the demolition of Babri mosque in 1992, which triggered communal violence across the country.
In the second volume of his memoir – The Turbulent Years: 1980-96 – President Pranab Mukherjee, said PV Narasimha Rao’s biggest failure was his inability to prevent the demolition of Babri mosque in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.
In the book, Mukherjee has also said the opening of Ram Janmabhoomi temple site in Ayodhya was an “error of judgement” by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Besides, he has said the demolition of Babri Masjid was an act of “absolute perfidy” that destroyed India’s image.
The book which is released today by Vice President Hamid Ansari, Mukherjee also said “Many stories have been circulated that I aspired to be the interim Prime Minister, that I had staked claim and had to be persuaded otherwise.
President Mukherjee sought to scotch long-standing speculation about his aspiring to become interim Prime Minister after Indira Gandhi’s assassination and termed these stories as “false and spiteful”.
Mukherjee also said he was left “shell-shocked and flabbergasted” at his ouster from the Rajiv Gandhi Cabinet.
“And that this created misgivings in Rajiv Gandhi’s mind. These stories are completely false and spiteful.”
In the book the President said getting dropped from Rajiv’s Cabinet was “not even peripherally” on his mind.
“I had heard no rumours, nor had anyone in the party ever vaguely hinted at it. As it happened, P V Narsimha Rao, too, was on tenterhooks, calling me several times to check if I had received a call.
“When I learnt of my ouster from the Cabinet, I was shell-shocked and flabbergasted. I could not believe it. But I composed myself, and sat alongside my wife as she watched the swearing-in ceremony on television,” Mukherjee, who later wrote to Urban Development Ministry to allot him a smaller house instead of ministerial allocation, said.
Talking about circumstances that led to his ouster from Rajiv’s Cabinet and then from the party, the President admitted to “have sensed Rajiv’s growing unhappiness and the hostility of those around him and taken pre-emptive action”.
“To the question of why he dropped me from the Cabinet and expelled me from the party, all I can say is that he made mistakes and so did I. He let others influence him and listened to their calumnies against me. I let my frustration overtake my patience,” he said.
After his expulsion in April 1986, Mukherjee had formed Rashtriya Samajwadi Congress (RSC). He later returned to the party in 1988. .