NEW DELHI: A day after asking the publisher to stop the publication of his father and former President Pranab Mukherjee's last memoir, former Congress MP Abhijit Mukherjee on Wednesday said that he is not against the publishing of his father's memoir but requested the publisher to allow him to go through its contents before final rollout.
"Contrary to the opinion of some, I am not against the publishing of my father's Memoir but I have requested D publisher to allow me to go through its contents before final roll out & I believe my request is quite legitimate & within my rights as his Son," Abhijeet Mukherjee tweeted.
He also requested the publisher to stop publishing "motivated excerpts" to "gain cheap publicity."
"Had my father been alive , he too would have gone through it before the final roll out as he had done in the past too for his other volumes. Till then , & I repeat , till then , the publisher has been requested to stop publishing motivated excerpts to gain cheap publicity," he added in another tweet.
A small excerpt from the memoir 'The Presidential Years' had been released by Rupa Publications last week and was widely reported in the media. Pranab Mukherjee, who was President from 2012 to 2017, had died in August this year. The publication had said that the memoir will be released in the coming January.
The small excerpt contained Pranab Mukherjee's views on the party's drubbing in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and had critical views on the handling of the Congress party and the government by Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
"Since my father is no more, I being his son want to go through the contents of the final copy of the book before it's publication as I believe, had my father been alive today, he too would have done the same. Therefore, I being his son request you to immediately stop it's publication without my written consent till I go through its contents! I have already sent you a detailed letter in this regard which will reach You soon! Regards," Abhijit Mukherjee had said on Tuesday.
The book will be the fourth volume of memoirs of the former President.