Pranabji was more qualified to be PM, but I had no choice: Manmohan

New Delhi: Dr. Manmohan Singh on Friday said that Pranab Mukherjee was the “most qualified to become the Prime Minister” when he was chosen for the post and that the former President had every reason to feel a grievance at that time.

Singh was speaking at the launch of Mukherjee's book 'The Coalition Years'. He also said that his entry into politics was accidental, while Mukherjee was in politics out of his own choice.

“Pranab ji was most qualified and had every reason to believe that he would be Prime Minister. He had every reason to be disappointed when I was chosen but he knew I had no choice in the matter,” he said.

He also indicated that there were best of relations between him and Mukherjee

His comments come after his close aide Dr. Sanjaya Baru wrote a book terming him as the accidental Prime Minister.

Dr Singh came into politics when the then PM Narasimha Rao invited him to join the government as the finance minister. Mukherjee praised Dr Singh for successfully running a coalition government.

This is the third and last of the former President’s autobiographies where he describes the 43 years he has spent as a worker of the Congress party.

In the book, Mukherjee says he had a “vague” feeling that Congress president Mrs Sonia Gandhi wanted to nominate Manmohan Singh as the UPA presidential candidate in 2012 and make him the Prime Minister. But clarity came when he was announced as the Presidential candidate on June 14, 2012.

The book launch saw Opposition parties coming together. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury, DMK leader Kanhimozhi, CPI leader Sudhakar Reddy were present at the launch. Sonia Gandhi and Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi were also part of the audience.

Speaking at the event, Yadav said that a book about coalitions is very useful in the present context.