Tough dad Pranab rejects Munni’s wishlist

Managing industrial lobbies and demanding Opposition members is easier than tackling a dissenter right inside one’s home. Instead, Mukherjee gave ‘Munni’, as he affectionately calls her, a “piece of advice”. HT Correspondent reports.

Managing industrial lobbies and demanding Opposition members is easier than tackling a dissenter right inside one’s home.

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But Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, taking a leaf out of Nehru’s exchange of letters with Indira, mixed home truths with political sermon as he wrote to his danseuse daughter, Sharmistha, rejecting demands made by her in a pre-budget open letter to him.

Instead, Mukherjee gave ‘Munni’, as he affectionately calls her, a “piece of advice”.

Bluntly, he said she might have to “negotiate reasonably” for pocket money — advice that may be obliquely aimed at the myriad lobbies clamouring for more.

“Don’t expect to have solutions to all problems by just writing to your father even though he happens to be finance minister,” he wrote.

Sharmistha had sought incentives for everything, from cooking to designer wear. She had said she was often silenced by his “steely glance” whenever she tried to share her “precious views” on the Budget.

Mukherjee responded: “Out of sheer pragmatism, I have learnt to shut my ears when you start your non-stop chattering... That could be why I might have missed your wise suggestions.”

He wanted active participation from his daughter, not just words: “If you are seriously concerned about these issues, be more pro-active in addressing them.”