Sonia was upset I met Bal Thackeray, says Pranab Mukherjee

New Delhi: Former President Pranab Mukherjee has said that Congress chief Sonia Gandhi was upset with him over his meeting late Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray in the runup to the 2012 presidential election despite her advice against such an interaction.

Revealing this in his book The Coalition Years, Mr Mukherjee said he had met Thackeray on the advice of Sharad Pawar of the NCP, a part of the Congress-led UPA-II government.

He said that during his campaign visit to Mumbai on July 13, 2012, he had gone to meet Thackeray at his residence after the Shiv Sena leader had ext-ended his party’s support to him despite being a part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

“I took a decision to meet Thackeray despite Sonia Gandhi’s disapproval because I felt that the man who had broken away from his traditional coalition partner to support my candidature, should not feel humiliated,” Mr Mukherjee said in his book.

The veteran Congressman said he had asked both Ms Gandhi and Mr Pawar, who was instrumental in influencing Thackeray towards him, whether he should meet the Sena leader during his visit to Mumbai.

Mr Pawar’s advice was completely different from that of Ms Gandhi as he insisted that Mr Mukherjee should meet Thackeray.

Mr Pawar said Thackeray would consider it a personal insult if Mr Mukherjee did not meet him during his visit to Mumbai.

“Sonia Gandhi was not enthusiastic about my meeting Bal Thackeray and advised me to avoid it if possible. Sonia Gandhi’s reservations about Thackeray were based on her own perception of his policies,” he said.

After his return to Delhi, Mr Mukherjee said, Congress leader Girija Vyas had met him and told him that Ms Gandhi and Ahmed Patel, the political secretary to the Congress president, were upset about the meeting with Thackeray.

Narrating his meeting with the Maratha strongman, the former president said it was “very cordial”.