NEW DELHI: Who pulled out Sonia Gandhi’s reference from President Pranab Mukherjee’s farewell speech Sunday? Interestingly, the booklet of Mukherjee’s speech circulated to MPs in the Central Hall of Parliament nowhere mentions the Congress president name. But the President made a pointed mention of her in his speech. A copy of the speech posted on President of India website also carries the reference.
The omission of the reference to Sonia Gandhi was the point of discussion in the corridors of Parliament House Monday. Some MPs wondered how it came to be dropped in the printed version of Mukherjee’s speech.
Pranab Mukherjee was Sunday given farewell in the Central Hall which was attended by MPs from both houses of Parliament. During his speech, he remembered many parliamentarians and senior leaders from various parties, including Sonia Gandhi.
What was notable was the omission of any mention of Sonia Gandhi in the booklet circulated ahead of the speech. Paragraph 5 of printed booklet says: “My years in Parliament were further enriched by the wisdom of P.V. Narasimha Rao, oration of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, cryptic one-liners of Madhu Limaye and Dr. Nath Pai, wit and humour of Piloo Modi, poetic discourses of Hiren Mukherjee, razor sharp repartee of Indrajit Gupta, calming presence of Dr. Manmohan Singh, mature advice of L.K. Advani.”
When he spoke, he said: “My years in Parliament were further enriched by the wisdom of P.V. Narasimha Rao, oration of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, cryptic one-liners of Madhu Limaye and Dr. Nath Pai, wit and humour of Piloo Modi, poetic discourses of Hiren Mukherjee, razor sharp repartee of Indrajit Gupta, calming presence of Dr. Manmohan Singh, mature advice of L.K. Advani and passionate support of Sonia Gandhi on social legislations.”
The latter version appears on the president’s website.
Also discussed by MP in the corridors was the absence of any mention of Rajiv Gandh while there were several mentions of Indira Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru.
Calls and email queries sent to the press office of the President of India to get an official comment remained unanswered.