Manmohan was preoccupied with saving coalition, Modi autocratic in 1st term: Pranab Mukherjee in memoirs

New Delhi, Dec 11 : Manmohan Singh was preoccupied with saving his coalition during his second stint while Narendra Modi was “autocratic” in his first term as Prime Minister, former President Pranab Mukherjee wrote in the fourth and concluding volume of his memoirs to be posthumously published next month.
He also doesn’t subscribe to the theory that the Congress would not have been drubbed in the 2014 general elections had he been made the Prime Minister in 2004 but says the Congress “lost focus” after he was elevated to President in 2012.
Laying bare his thoughts on his relationship with the two Prime Ministers he worked with, who belonged to two parties and who were (and are) fi­ercely opposed to each other, Mukherjee writes in ‘The Presidential Years’ (Rupa): “I believe that the moral authority to govern vests with the PM. The overall state of the nation is reflective of the functioning of the PM and his administration.
“While Dr Singh was preoccupied with saving the coalition, which took a toll on governance, Modi seemed to have employed a rather autocratic style of governance during his ­first term, as seen by the bitter relationship among the government, the legislature and the judiciary. Only time will tell if there is a better understanding on such matters in the second term of this government.” He is also frank about the reasons for the dismal showing of the Congress in the 2014 general elections, admitting candidly: “Some members of the Congress have theorized that had I become the PM in 2004, the party might have averted the 2014 Lok Sabha drubbing.
“Though I don’t subscribe to this view, I do believe that the party’s leadership lost political focus after my elevation as President. While Sonia Gandhi was unable to handle the affairs of the party, Dr Singh’s prolonged absence from the House put an end to any personal contact with other MPs.”