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 run-up to the 2012 presidential poll despite her advice against such an interaction. Revealing this in his book The Coalition Years, 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 extended 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 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,” Mukherjee said in his book.
The veteran Congressman said he had asked both Gandhi and Pawar, who was instrumental in influencing Thackeray towards him, whether he should meet the Sena leader during his visit to Mumbai.