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Former President of India, Pranab Mukherjee.

 Pranab Mukherjee is an Indian politician who served as 13th President of India from 2012 until 2017. In a political career spanning 5 decades, Mukherjee has been a senior leader in an Indian National Congress and has occupied several ministerial portfolios in  Government of India.

Mukherjee, India’s 13th president, Congress’ troubleshooter through the decades and one among the country’s most respected politicians, died on Monday after a 21-day illness and five decades publicly life. He was 84. A people’s person till end, ‘Citizen Mukherjee’ used Twitter to speak to the world that he had tested positive for COVID-19 on August 10. It was his last post, and his last words to the public.

Demonstrating his ability to quickly adapt to situations as they arose, Mukherjee was comfortable with the new mode of communication. Twitter was a platform he used often, to precise his condolences on the death of leaders and friends, greet people on festivals or wish them on their birthdays. Some politicians don’t fade into the background. And so it had been with the scholarly Mukherjee too. He remained a presence to deal with even after he demitted the office of president, often making headlines as he attended book launches and delivered lectures. It was a life of many firsts & accomplishments for the West Bengal-born politician, famed for his encyclopedic memory, razor sharp intellect and deep insights into issues.

In 1982, he became India’s youngest minister of finance when he was just 47. In the years that followed, he served as an India’s minister for External Affairs, Defence, Finance and Commerce and was the first Indian president to have done so. Mukherjee managed the rare distinction of serving three prime ministers as minister - Indira Gandhi, P V Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh –  ever the Congress’ trusted Man Friday as it evolved over the decades. Mukherjee was also India’s only non-prime minister who was leader of the Lok Sabha for eight years. He was also the leader of  Rajya Sabha from 1980-85. There were other landmarks during a remarkable political career, which started in 1969 as a Rajya Sabha member for the Bangla Congress which subsequently merged with the Congress.

When he became president in 2012, Mukherjee was heading 24 of 39 GOMs (groups of ministers). Between 2004-2012, he chaired 95 GOMs. Mukherjee was famous in political career as a consensus builder. He inspired trust among the leaders across the political spectrum, an asset that proved handy at the time of his election as president.

It was a many splendored political career, which ended at the presidential palace. But the prime minister’s post eluded him, even though it had been a position he openly aspired for. In his book “The Coalition Years”, Mukherjee acknowledged that he had hoped to urge the post in May 2004 after then Congress president Sonia Gandhi herself declined the position.

“Finally she named Dr Manmohan Singh as her choice & he accepted. The prevalent expectation was that I might be subsequent choice for prime minister after Sonia Gandhi declined,” Mukherjee wrote, admitting that he initially refused to join the cabinet of Manmohan Singh who had been his junior in the past but agreed when Sonia Gandhi insisted. Mukherjee remained the UPA’s chief crisis manager through its tumultuous years, starting 2004 until he became president on July 25, 2012.

Born on December 11, 1935 in the small village of Mirati in West Bengal’s Birbhum district, Mukherjee received early lessons in life from his freedom fighter parents. His father, a Congress leader, endured great financial hardship and was sent to jail several times for his role within the freedom struggle.

The roots were strong and never forgotten, taking him back often from the corridors of power to his village during Durga Puja, even when he became president. Photographs of Mukherjee, performing prayers during a traditional dhoti, made it to the general public domain through his years as minister and president. In 2015, he lost his wife Suvra Mukherjee. He is survived by his two sons Indrajit and Abhijit, and daughter Sharmistha, who was by his side during important events of his president years.

Mukherjee, who served in Rajya Sabha for five terms and in Lok Sabha twice and was one among India’s longest serving parliamentarians, became a member of the Congress Parliamentary Party when the Bengal Congress merged with the Congress in 1971. Though he occupied various positions within the government, Mukherjee was elected to the Lok Sabha for the primary time only in 2004 when he won from West Bengal's Jangipur constituency. He had lost the previous two Lok Sabha  contests - from Malda in 1977 and Bolpur in 1980. With his vast knowledge of post independence political history and governance, Mukherjee remained a key figure and active participant in shaping the course of India''s development.

He served as member of the Congress Working Committee, the very highest decision-making body of the party, for 23 years until becoming president in 2012 and was often called in to trouble shoot for the party. Mukherjee''s meeting with Henry Kissinger in 2004 altered the course of Indo-US strategic partnership. In 2005, when he was defence minister, the new framework for US-India defence relations was signed.  

From 2004-2012, Mukherjee played a key role in critical decisions of the Manmohan Singh-led government on issues like Right to Information, food security also the setting up of the UIDAI and the Metro Rail project. 

He was also referred as one among the chief architects of the post-Congress era of Indian politics, playing an lively role in galvanising the surface support which the Congress offered to the United Front governments led by then prime minister H D Devegowda and later I K Gujral. Most of his political life spent as a committed Congress member - except for a brief spell between 1987 and 1988 when he was out of the party - was fairly non-controversial. But in June 2018, a year after he demitted office, Mukherjee triggered huge controversy by visiting the RSS headquarters in Nagpur and delivering  valedictory address there. In 2019, he was conferred India’s highest civilian honour Bharat Ratna by the BJP government, a development that became a topic of intense political debate. Ending his political career as president of India, he left his mark on highest office of the land too. 

Mukherjee’s tenure as president will stand out for the tough stance he took on mercy petitions. Of the 34 mercy petitions presented to him, he rejected 30. He is going to be remembered for the steps he took to make the Rashtrapati Bhavan closer to the people. He opened it up for the general public and made a museum. The Durbar Hall was refurbished with Mukherjee ensuring during his presidency that events were held under its lofty dome. The library was renovated also with researchers getting access to its extensive catalogue of books. Besides, he opened the gates of the presidential palace for writers, artists, innovators, scientists and students through an in-residency programme.

via  wikipedia, outlookindia