Former President Pranab Mukherjee, who was a member of the Indian National Congress from 1969 till the time he took up the presidency, is set to address members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) at its headquarters in Nagpur on June 7, a top RSS official said.
Former President Pranab Mukherjee, who was a member of the Indian National Congress from 1969 till the time he took up the presidency, is set to address members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) at its headquarters in Nagpur on June 7, a top RSS official said.
The official said: “We had extended an invitation to the former president to address RSS workers at our headquarters in Nagpur. He has accepted our invitation and will be present at the event.”
Reacting to this, RSS leader Rakesh Sinha said: “Former President Pranab Mukherjee’s acceptance to attend RSS event in Nagpur sends a message to the country that on vital issues there should be dialogue and adversaries are not enemies. Questions raised on RSS-Hindutva is being answered by his acceptance of invitation.”
Mukherjee left office of president in July last year. He has been a Congress member for the better part of his political career, except for a few lost years, when Rajiv Gandhi became PM. He served as Finance Minister in UPA II under Dr Manmohan Singh. Dr Singh had once admitted that he thought Pranab Mukherjee would make a better PM.
As the RBI Governor, Singh had served under Mukherjee, when the latter was Finance Minister in the Indira Gandhi Cabinet, post Emergency. Singh, however, insisted that both had a relationship of "deep and abiding friendship", which was never affected by this issue.
Tracing his long relationship with Mukherjee to 1970, Singh said: "Then came 2004, Sonia ji chose me to be the PM and Pranab ji was the most distinguished colleague I had." Sending the audience, including Sonia into peals of laughter, Singh said: "He (Mukherjee) had every reason to feel the grievance that he was better qualified than I was to become the PM but he also knew that I had no choice and any part in the decision. like him."
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