Daughter of Pranab Mukherjee writes to Rahul Gandhi after being trolled

Sharmistha Mukherjee, daughter of former President Pranab Mukherjee, penned a letter to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday expressing her concerns about the continuous trolling she and her late father have endured from Mr. Gandhi’s supporters on social media following the publication of her book, ” Pranab My Father: A daughter remembers” which is based on her father’s memoirs.

In a letter shared on X (formerly Twitter), Ms. Mukherjee highlighted that she had been subjected to severe trolling, often involving extremely offensive language. She specifically mentioned one social media user particularly Naveen Shahi, having a X handle of @Naveen_Kr_Shahi, who she noted is “followed by several senior Congress leaders,” for using reprehensible language to abuse her father, Pranab Mukherjee, and herself, to the extent that she finds it nauseating to even repeat it.

She urged Mr. Gandhi to address the issue with the particular Twitter account. Additionally, her letter mentioned that the recently released book contained some negative comments about Mr. Gandhi, as recorded in her father’s diaries.

During the Jaipur Literary Fest a few days back, Ms. Mukherjee voiced skepticism about Mr. Gandhi’s capacity to lead the Congress. She remarked, “Under your leadership and with you being the face of the campaign, the Congress faced disastrous losses in two Lok Sabha elections with a third one looming. While I maintain my faith in the Congress [I am a staunch Congress supporter, whether you believe it or not] and acknowledge its continued role as the primary opposition with a strong national presence, perhaps it’s time to consider leadership beyond the Gandhi-Nehru family and to have a different face representing the Congress.”

She added, “Your favourite slogan of ‘Nafrat ke Bazaar me Mohabbat ki Dukan’ also seems to fall on deaf ears of your own followers as they unleash all their ‘Nafrat’ on anyone daring to criticise you.”

Neither the Congress nor Rahul Gandhi or the other two leaders tagged by Ms Mukherjee have commented so far. The account mentioned by her was created in 2013. It does not, at the time of writing, have either Mr Gandhi, Mr Ramesh, or Ms Shrinate, or any Congress handle, as a ‘follower’.