In the second volume of his memoir, The Turbulent Years: 1980-96, released today by Vice President Hamid Ansari, Mukherjee says "Many stories have been circulated that I aspired to be the interim Prime Minister, that I had staked claim and had to be persuaded otherwise.
"And that this created misgivings in Rajiv Gandhi's mind. These stories are completely false and spiteful."
In the book published by Rupa Publications, the President has written in detail about the conversation he had with Rajiv Gandhi in a bathroom about Prime Ministership.
"Knowing that I would not have disturbed him unless the matter was very urgent and confidential, he quickly led me to the bathroom attached to the room so that we could talk without being noticed by anyone else who may enter the room," Mukherjee said.
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Talking about circumstances that led to his ouster from Rajiv's Cabinet and then from the party, Mukherjee admitted to "have sensed Rajiv's growing unhappiness and the hostility of those around him and taken pre-emptive action".
"To the question of why he dropped me from the Cabinet and expelled me from the party, all I can say is that he made mistakes and so did I. He let others influence him and listened to their calumnies against me. I let my frustration overtake my patience," he said.
fiasco. "I should have the wisdom to realise that I was (and am) not a mass leader. Those who left the Congress rarely succeeded. I could have been of some help to the Congress party and the government during those crucial years of 1986 and 1987 when everything seemed to go wrong for Rajiv," Mukherjee, who returned to Congress after two years, said.
Mukherjee said Rajiv was a "reluctant politician" who was forced by circumstances to become Prime Minister at the age of 40.
"He was ahead of his times. He wanted rapid change and saw the old guard in the Congress as an obstacle to his vision. He was forward looking, tech savvy and welcomed foreign investment in India as well as enlargement of the market economy.
The "unconscionable" anti-Sikh riots, which broke out in the name of revenge for Indira Gandhi's assassination, caught the Rajiv Gandhi government unprepared, he writes.
"The government was just not ready for an eventuality such as Mrs Gandhi's assassination and the riots that followed. Every mature government has mechanisms to deal with a crisis such as this. Unfortunately, overwhelming grief overtook the nation and miscreants took advantage of the situation, causing loss of life and suffering," Mukherjee says.