I had the privilege of working closely with him both in the party and the government. We worked together on Congress history and the publication of the special volume on 125 years of the party. He had complete comprehensive and understanding of India’s freedom struggle and especially post-independent India’s reconstruction. He was a very grounded and committed Congressman.
I learned a lot and shall always cherish the memories. Pranabda will be fondly remembered as a great parliamentarian for his erudition, articulation and commitment to democracy. India has lost a great leader and statesman at a time when the nation needed his wise guidance. The Congress has lost a stalwart who made an enormous contribution to public life in his long and illustrious career.
He was very committed to the Congress. We worked together when I was a minister in North Block and during the Indo-US nuclear deal and later we interacted during many occasions at cabinet and economic committee meetings. He was very charming but he also believed in the value of time and the quality of conversation and would not like to continue a conversation that was not productive.
I have many memories of him as we have seen many difficult and good times. There were many things which upset him and things which were very special to him. He was very upset when there was a sudden announcement of the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.
He was not in Delhi at that time and when he returned he spoke to me about it. It was close to midnight when I went to his house and talked to him. He said this would have long term consequences and should not have happened.
He was not happy when he and Kapil Sibal were asked to go to the Delhi airport to talk to Baba Ramdev when the Anna Hazare agitation was at the peak. He said he should have thought better before for saying yes to go and meet him. He regretted it and never forgave himself for that.
He was disciplined and did not like to take the credit from the Prime Minister, who was dealing with the Indo-US nuclear deal. In fact, Pranabda had a great quality, even if he personally did not agree with a decision he would be tenacious in defending it after the decision had been made.
His thinking was there was no point in wasting time on decisions in which his views were considered unimportant. He had a great sense of humour and an amazing ability to reach out even to his adversaries. He could be frank, talk, negotiate and was the ultimate negotiator.
Anand Sharma
Congress leader & Pranab Mukherjee’s cabinet colleague in UPA I & II