Pranab Mukherjee Missed being PM

As President, Pranab Mukherjee oversaw two very different governments, one led by the Congress party where he was the most prominent person and was known as a trouble shooter in the party and the other NDA government led by Narendra Modi.

"It is absolutely an account of how one looked at men and matters as an active political participant," Mukherjee said on the occasion of release of his new memoir.

In his tell-all memoir he explains the during the Coalition Years Congress President, Sonia Gandhi in 2012, gave him the impression that she would nominate Manmohan Singh as presidential candidate and elevate him as the prime minister of the Congress-led UPA government.

"There was an intense speculation, about her choice. Within the Congress party, the consensus was that the incumbent must be a political leader with experience in party affairs and administration. Finally, Sonia Gandhi named Dr Manmohan Singh as her choice and he accepted," Mukherjee recounts of his understanding that he would be the next prime minister after Sonia declined.

Many were of the view that I "would not join the government because I could not work under Manmohan Singh, who had been my junior when I was the finance minister. Sonia Gandhi, however, insisted that I should join the government also to support Dr Manmohan Singh," Mukherjee added.