Pranab Mukherjee’s Daughter Hits Out at Congress for Not Holding CWC Meeting After Her Father’s Death Amid Manmohan Singh’s Memorial Row

Sharmistha Mukherjee, the daughter of late former President Pranab Mukherjee, criticized the Congress for not convening a Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting following her father's death in 2020. In a series of posts on social media platform X, she took issue with the party's failure to honor a prominent leader with such a gesture, especially when similar tributes had been given to others. She also expressed disapproval of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge’s proposal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking a separate memorial for former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, who passed away at 92 on Thursday.

"When baba passed away, Congress didn’t even bother to call CWC for condolence meeting. A senior leader told me it’s not done for Presidents. That’s utter rubbish as I learned later from baba’s diaries that on KR Narayanan’s death, CWC was called & condolence message was drafted by baba only,” she wrote.

Sharmistha's comments were made in the context of a proposal by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, who had recently requested that a separate memorial be built for former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. While Sharmistha Mukherjee criticized the party’s handling of her father's passing, she supported the idea of a memorial for Dr. Singh. "Having said that, a memorial for Dr. Singh is a great idea. He deserves it & also Bharat Ratna which baba as President wanted to confer on him; but that didn’t happen perhaps due to reasons which don’t need to be spelled out,” daughter of the former President added.

The Congress party had also raised concerns about the location for Dr. Singh’s memorial and funeral arrangements. After Singh’s death, the Congress accused the government of deliberately insulting India’s first Sikh Prime Minister by not designating a location for his cremation and memorial. The Union Home Ministry had initially confirmed that Singh’s last rites would be held at Nigambodh Ghat in New Delhi with full state honours, but the Congress claimed this wasn’t sufficient for a leader of his stature.

However, in a late-night statement, the Union Home Ministry clarified that the government had agreed to allocate space for Dr. Singh’s memorial. The Ministry announced that Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge had been informed about the decision, and the space would be provided once a Trust for the memorial was formed. Union Home Minister Amit Shah had personally communicated the decision to Kharge and the Singh family.​