A day before Pranab Mukherjee addresses an RSS event in Nagpur, the former president's daughter and Congress leader Sharmistha Mukherjee on Wednesday, 6 June, disapproved of his decision, saying he was giving the BJP and the Sangh a handle to plant false stories, as his "speech will be forgotten" but the "visuals will remain".
Taking to Twitter, she hoped the former president would realise how the BJP's "dirty tricks department" works and said that with his visit, he was giving the BJP and RSS "full handle to plant false stories".
She also warned her father of the consequences of attending such a meet.
Her outburst came soon after rumours about her joining the BJP cropped up ahead of Mukherjee's visit to Nagpur on Thursday, 7 June.
She dismissed such “rumours” of her joining the BJP as “false” and alleged they were the handiwork of BJP’s “dirty tricks department”.
She said she would rather leave politics than quit the Congress.
"Hope @CitiznMukherjee now realises from todays' incident, how BJP dirty tricks dept operates. Even RSS wouldn't believe that u r going 2 endorse its views in ur speech. But the speech will be forgotten, visuals will remain & those will be circulated with fake statements.
"@CitiznMukherjee By going 2 Nagpur, u r giving BJP/RSS full handle 2 plant false stories, spread falls rumours as 2day & making it somewhat believable. And this is just d beginning!" she said on Twitter.
The former president's official Twitter handle is @CitiznMukherjee.
Mukherjee would be visiting the RSS headquarters on Thursday, 7 June, and would address a function there.
The visit has already given rise to a lot of speculation and a host of Congress leaders have urged the former president to review his decision for the sake of secularism.
Sharmistha Mukherjee, who is out of the city on a holiday, took to Twitter to swiftly deny the rumours, which appeared amid a row over her father accepting an invite to address the RSS event.
Rubbishing the rumours, she said on Twitter: "In the mountains enjoying a beautiful sunset, and suddenly this news that I'm supposedly joining BJP hits like a torpedo! Can't there be some peace and sanity in this world? I joined politics because I believe in Congress. Would rather leave politics than leave Congress," she tweeted.
Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken also rejected such suggestions, saying Sharmistha Mukherjee is a “devoted” Congress person.
"In reply to certain rumors-Just spoke to @Sharmistha_GK , who is out of Delhi- She is a devoted Congress Person and firmly believes in the ideology of @INCIndia. She told me, that she is in politics, just because of her firm faith in the ideology of the Congress Party," he wrote on Twitter.
Sharmistha Mukherjee, who is president of Mahila Congress as well as in-charge of the communication department of Delhi unit, had joined the party in 2014.
She had also contested Delhi Assembly elections from Greater Kailash seat in 2015 and lost to AAP leader Saurabh Bhardwaj.
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