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SPECIAL ARTICLE : KNOW BHARAT RATAN AWARD RECIPIENT EX PRESIDENT PRANAB MUKHERJEE

 KNOW BHARAT RATAN RECIPIENT EX PRESIDENT PRANAB MUKHERJEE

 

Pranab Kumar Mukherjee (Bengali: প্রণব মুখোপাধ্যায়; Bengali pronunciation: [prɔnɔb kuːmaːr mukʰardʒi̯] (About this soundlisten); 11 December 1935 – 31 August 2020)[3][4][5][6][7][8] was an Indian politician who served as the 13th President of India from 2012 until 2017. In a political career spanning five decades, Mukherjee was a senior leader in the Indian National Congress and occupied several ministerial portfolios in the Government of India.[9] Prior to his election as President, Mukherjee was Union Finance Minister from 2009 to 2012. He was awarded India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna in 2019 by the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind.

Mukherjee got his break in politics in 1969 when the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi helped him get elected to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Parliament of India, on a Congress ticket. Following a meteoric rise, he became one of Gandhi's most trusted lieutenants and a minister in her cabinet in 1973. Mukherjee's service in a number of ministerial capacities culminated in his first stint as Finance Minister of India in 1982–84. He was also the Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha from 1980 to 1985.

Mukherjee was sidelined from the Congress during the premiership of Rajiv Gandhi. Mukherjee had viewed himself and not the inexperienced Rajiv, as the rightful successor to Indira following her assassination in 1984. Mukherjee lost out in the ensuing power struggle. He formed his own party, the Rashtriya Samajwadi Congress, which merged with the Congress in 1989 after reaching a consensus with Rajiv Gandhi. After Rajiv Gandhi's assassination in 1991, Mukherjee's political career revived when Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao appointed him Planning Commission head in 1991 and foreign minister in 1995. Following this, as elder statesman of the Congress, Mukherjee was the principal and architect of Sonia Gandhi's ascension to the party's presidency in 1998.

When the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) came into power in 2004, Mukherjee won a Lok Sabha seat (the popularly elected lower house of Parliament) seat for the first time. From then until his resignation in 2012, Mukherjee held a number of key cabinet portfolios in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government – Defence (2004–06), External Affairs (2006–09) and Finance (2009–12) – apart from heading several Groups of Ministers (GoMs) and being Leader of the House in the Lok Sabha. After securing the UPA's nomination for the country's presidency in July 2012, Mukherjee comfortably defeated P. A. Sangma in the race to Rashtrapati Bhavan, winning 70 percent of the electoral-college vote.

In 2017, Mukherjee decided not to run for re-election and to retire from politics after leaving the presidency due to "health complications relating to old age." His term expired on 25 July 2017.[10][11][12] He was succeeded as President by Ram Nath Kovind. In June 2018 Mukherjee became first former President of India to address a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) event.[13]

Early life and education

Pranab was born into a Bengali Brahmin family at Mirati, a village in the Bengal Presidency of British India (now in Birbhum district, West Bengal).[14] His father, Kamada Kinkar Mukherjee was active in the Indian independence movement and was a member of West Bengal Legislative Council between 1952 and 1964 as a representative of the Indian National Congress; he was a member of AICC. His mother was Rajlakshmi Mukherjee.[15][16][17] He had two siblings: older sister Annapurna and younger brother Piyush.[18]

He attended the Suri Vidyasagar College in Suri (Birbhum), then affiliated to University of Calcutta.[19] He subsequently earned an MA degree in Political Science & History and an LL.B. degree, both from University of Calcutta[16]

He was an upper-division Clerk in the Office of Deputy Accountant-General (Post and Telegraph) in Calcutta. In 1963, he became a lecturer (Assistant Professor) of Political Science at Vidyanagar College, Kolkata[20][21] and he also worked as a Journalist with the Desher Dak (Call of Motherland) before entering politics.[22]

Political career

Mukherjee started his political career as a founding member of the Bangla Congress.[23] In 1969, he managed the successful Midnapore by-election campaign of an independent candidate, V. K. Krishna Menon. He became a member of Rajya Sabha (the upper house of Indian parliament) in July 1969 on a Bangla Congress ticket.[23] Then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi, recognised Mukherjee's talents and recruited him to her party, the Indian National Congress.[24] Mukherjee was re-elected to the house in 1975, 1981, 1993, and 1999.[19]

Mukherjee became a Gandhi loyalist and was often described as her "man for all seasons."[25] Mukherjee's rise was rapid in the early phase of his career and he was appointed Union Deputy Minister of Industrial Development in Indira Gandhi's cabinet in 1973. Mukherjee was active in the Indian cabinet during the controversial Internal Emergency of 1975–77. Ruling Congress politicians of the day including Mukherjee were accused of using extra-constitutional powers to "wreck established norms and rules of governance." Following the Congress's defeat in the 1977 general elections, the newly formed Janata government-appointed Shah Commission indicted Mukherjee; however, the commission was itself indicted in 1979 for stepping "outside its jurisdiction. Mukherjee emerged unscathed and rose through a series of cabinet posts to become Finance Minister from 1982 to 1984.[26][27]

His term was noted for his work in improving the finances of the government which enabled Gandhi to score a political point by returning the last instalment of India's first IMF loan.[28] As Finance Minister, Mukherjee signed the letter appointing Manmohan Singh as Governor of the Reserve Bank of India.[24]

In 1979, Mukherjee became Deputy Leader of the INC in the Rajya Sabha, and in 1980 he was appointed Leader of the House.[19] Mukherjee was considered the top-ranking Indian cabinet minister and he presided over cabinet meetings in the absence of the Prime Minister.[29]

Mukherjee was sidelined from the INC following the assassination of Indira Gandhi. Although Mukherjee was much more experienced in politics than Indira's son, Rajiv Gandhi, it was Rajiv who gained control. Mukherjee lost his position in the cabinet and was sent to manage the regional West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee. He was considered to be Indira's likely successor and, siding with those within his party who aligned themselves against Rajiv Gandhi, Mukherjee was sidelined and eventually expelled from the mainstream.[25][30]

In 1986, Mukherjee founded another party, the Rashtriya Samajwadi Congress (RSC), in West Bengal. The RSC and INC merged three years later after a compromise was reached with Rajiv Gandhi. The RSC had fared terribly in the 1987 Assembly polls in West Bengal. Many analysts, over the years, have attributed the muting of Mukherjee's political aspirations as the supreme leader to his inability to emerge as a magnetic mass leader.[25] On later being asked that did he ever desire to become Prime Minister, Mukherjee, however, replied, "7 RCR was never my destination."[31] The Zee News noted: "The statement assumes heft in the light of the longstanding speculation that Mukherjee, as one of the doyens of Congress, always nursed an ambition to occupy the top executive post."[31]

Mukherjee's political career revived following Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 when P. V. Narasimha Rao chose to appoint him as deputy chairman of the Indian Planning Commission and subsequently as a union cabinet minister. Mukherjee served as External Affairs Minister for the first time from 1995 to 1996 in Rao's cabinet.[19]

Mukherjee was considered to be a Gandhi family loyalist and the principal architect of Sonia Gandhi's entry into politics, a mentoring responsibility he was believed to have continued shouldering.[25] He was made General Secretary of the AICC in 1998–99 after Sonia Gandhi became Congress President. Mukherjee was made President of the West Bengal Congress in 2000 and held the position until his resignation in 2010. He had earlier held the position in 1985.[16]

Mukherjee became Leader of the House in the Lok Sabha in 2004.[19] He contested and won a Lok Sabha seat from Jangipur in West Bengal which he would later retain in 2009. It was speculated in 2004 that Mukherjee would be made Prime Minister of India after Sonia Gandhi declined to become Prime Minister; however, Manmohan Singh was chosen.[32]

Mukherjee was briefly considered for the post of the largely ceremonial Indian presidency in 2007 but his name was subsequently dropped after his contribution in the Union Cabinet was considered practically indispensable.[30]

Mukherjee held many important posts in the Manmohan Singh government. He had the distinction of being the Minister for various high-profile Ministries including Defence, Finance, and External Affairs. Mukherjee also headed the Congress Parliamentary Party and the Congress Legislative Party which consists of all the Congress MPs and MLAs in the country apart from being Leader of the House in Lok Sabha and Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee President.[19]

Mukherjee ended his affiliation with the Indian National Congress and retired from active political life following his election as president in 2012. The Economic Times had noted: "[the] decades of activity in critical all-rounder roles make [Mukherjee's] exit both a structural and generation shift. With him, the last of the Congress triumvirate – along with Rao and R. Venkataraman – who formed the core team of Indira/Rajiv regimes bows out. While Rao became PM, Pranab's political marathon too ends where Venkataraman's did, at the Rashtrapati Bhavan."[33]

 President of India

Mukherjee was nominated as the presidential candidate of the United Progressive Alliance on 15 June 2012 after considerable political intrigue.[60][61] The elections were scheduled to be conducted on 19 July 2012 and the results were expected to be announced on 22 July 2012. The nominee of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was P. A. Sangma.[62] To file his nomination for the presidential poll on 28 June, Mukherjee resigned from the government on 26 June 2012.[58]

In the election, Mukherjee received 713,763 votes, while Sangma had 315,987.[63] In his victory speech, delivered outside his residence before the results were officially announced, he said:

I would like to express my deep gratitude to all of you who are waiting. The figure has crossed 7 lakhs, only one state remains. The final figure will come from the returning officer. I would like to thank the people of India for electing me to this high office. The enthusiasm, the warmth of the people was remarkable. I have received much more from the people of this country, from the Parliament, than I have given. Now I have been entrusted with the responsibility of protecting and defending the constitution as President. I will try and justify the trust of the people. I would like to reciprocate the congratulation Shri Purno Sangma has extended.[64]

Mukherjee was sworn-in by the Chief Justice of India on 25 July 2012,[65] becoming the first Bengali to hold the post of President of India.[31] After being administered the oath of office, he said we are in the midst of a fourth world war of terror (the third was the Cold war) and what minutes of peace can achieve cannot be achieved in many years of war.[66]


Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh both congratulated Pranab Mukherjee on his election as president.[67] Former Communist leader Somnath Chatterjee termed Mukherjee as one of "the best parliamentarians and statesmen of India" and said the country "has got the most able man for the top job."[68] Opposition leader Sharad Yadav declared "the nation needed a president like Pranab Mukherjee."[69] Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit commented and said Mukherjee will be "one of the wisest presidents." She further marvelled at the fact that parties in the opposition ranks supported Mukherjee. "Even the NDA broke up and wanted to vote for the president to be Pranab Mukherjee."[70] The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was reportedly "shocked" and "upset" at the cross-voting for Mukherjee by its legislative members.[71] However, the BJP party President Nitin Gadkari congratulated Mukherjee and said "I extend my hearty congratulations to Pranab Mukherjee on his election today as the new President of India." Gadkari further declared "I am sure that the country will make further development and progress. I wish him all success and a bright future."[72]

The Zee News noted: "What is striking about [Mukherjee] is that after more than four decades in public life, the Opposition had no ammunition against him after he was declared UPA’s choice for President. In spite of Team Anna making some noise about him being involved in some corruption cases, it has been more or less an easy ride for Pranab to Raisina Hill. Once when Sonia Gandhi announced his name, most of the allies and the Opposition came on board. Whereas, NDA partner JD(U) saw no merit in opposing him, one of the bitter critics of the Congress Shiv Sena too toed the line a little too easily. This support was not for Congress but for [Mukherjee]."[30]

Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance, 2013 was promulgated by Pranab Mukherjee on 3 February 2013, which provides for the amendment of Indian Penal Code, Indian Evidence Act, and Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 on laws related to sexual offences.[73][74] As of July 2015, President Mukherjee had rejected 24 mercy pleas including those of Yakub Memon, Ajmal Kasab, and Afzal Guru.[75][76]

In January 2017, Mukherjee announced that he would not contest the 2017 Presidential elections citing "advanced age and failing health".[77]

 

Illness and death

During the COVID-19 pandemic, on 10 August 2020, Mukherjee announced on Twitter that he had tested positive for COVID-19 prior to his surgery to remove a blood clot in his brain.[85][86] He was admitted to the hospital after accidentally slipping and falling in his bathroom.[87][88] He was on ventilator support and in critical condition at the Army's Research and Referral (R&R) hospital in Delhi.[89]

On 13 August, the hospital reported that Mukherjee was in a deep coma after he underwent brain surgery, however his vital parameters remained stable.[90][91] On 19 August, the Army's Research and Referral hospital said that the health condition of Mukherjee had declined as he had developed a lung infection.[92] On 25 August, his renal parameters became "slightly deranged", with the condition worsening days later.[93][94]

Mukherjee died on 31 August 2020, aged 84, which was confirmed by his son Abhijit Mukherjee via Twitter.[95][96] His death came after the attending hospital confirmed that his health had deteriorated early that day stating that he had been in septic shock since a day earlier which was caused by his lung infection and that he was overseen by a team of specialists.[97][98]

Condolences poured in immediately from leaders of both India and other nations. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the President Ramnath Kovind, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, Home Minister Amit Shah, and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi conveyed their condolences via Twitter.[99][100][101] The President of Russia, Vladimir Putin,[102] the President of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani,[103] the President of Maldives, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih,[104] the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina,[105] the Prime Minister of Bhutan, Lotay Tshering, the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa, and the Prime Minister of Nepal, K. P. Sharma Oli, were among the foreign leaders who expressed their condolences.[99][106][107] Sports players and actors from the country also expressed their condolences.[108][109]

The Government of India announced a seven-day period of state mourning between 31 August to 6 September, whereby the national flag will fly at half mast on all buildings wherever it is flown regularly.[110] The West Bengal state government declared a closure of state run offices for the following day as a mark of respect.[111]

The funeral was held the following day, i.e. 1 September at the Lodhi Road crematorium at 2 pm IST with full state honours.[112] The mortal remains were carried to the crematorium in a van instead of gun carriage due to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions in the country.[113][114]

Honours

National honours

Foreign honours

Academic honours

Other recognition

Offices held

Pranab Mukherjee's positions in chronological order:[19][142][143]

Books written

  • Beyond Survival: Emerging Dimensions of Indian Economy. S. Chand & Company. 1986. ISBN 0706926587.
  • Off the Track: A Few Comments on Current Affairs. K. P. International. 1987.
  • Challenges Before the Nation: Saga of Struggle and Sacrifice (Indian National Congress). Vikas Publishing House. 1993. ISBN 0706966236.
  • A Centenary History of the Indian National Congress – Volume V: 1964–1984 (co-authored with Aditya Mukherjee). Academic Foundation Kolkata. 2011. ISBN 978-8171888641.
  • Congress and the Making of the Indian Nation. Academic Foundation Kolkata. 2011. ISBN 978-8171888580.
  • Thoughts and Reflections. Rupa Publications India. 2014. ISBN 978-8129134479.
  • The Dramatic Decade: The Indira Gandhi Years. Rupa Publications India. 2015. ISBN 978-8129136015.
  • The Turbulent Years: 1980–1996. Rupa Publications India. 2016. ISBN 978-8129137692.
  • The Coalition Years: 1996–2012. Rupa Publications India. 2017. ISBN 978-8129149053.

 

 

 

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