Former President Pranab Mukherjee passes away at 84

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New Delhi, Aug 31: Former President Pranab Mukherjee, popularly and fondly known as ‘Pranab Da’, left for heavenly abode at the ripe age of 84 on Monday. He was recuperating at Army’s Research and Referral Hospital (R & R) here for quite some time.

The condition of Mukherjee who was in a coma, deteriorated Monday morning and he suffered a septic shock due to lung infection, the hospital sources said.

Mukherjee’s son Abhijit tweeted about his father’s death.

"With a Heavy Heart, this is to inform you that my father Shri #PranabMukherjee has just passed away in spite of the best efforts of Doctors of RR Hospital & prayers, duas & prarthanas from people throughout India! I thank all of You,”.

Mukherjee had suffered a fall at his Rajaji Marg house and had been operated to remove a blood clot in his brain on August 10. Doctors on Monday morning warned that there was a decline in his condition and he was in septic shock due to infection in his lung.

A committed Congressman to the core for all his life, and seven-time parliamentarian, Mukherjee started his career as a teacher and journalist before striding into the political arena. He became a Rajya Sabha MP in 1969 and got re-elected to the Upper House for four more terms before entering into the Lower House from Jangipur Parliamentary Constituency in Bengal in 2004. He was re-elected in 2009 to Lok Sabha.

Pranab Mukherjee was seen as a formidable political strategist, draftsman, and parliamentarian with an astute legal mind, the qualities needed for a perfect politician. He was picked up by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1972 as a cabinet colleague and from thence he held some most powerful portfolios like finance, commerce, external affairs, and defence during the Congress governments.

Pranab Da was seen as prime troubleshooter during the Manmohan Singh government because of his sharpest mind.

Mukherjee was elected as Rashtrapti in 2012 as a Congress nominee and that was his last stop in public life. After completing a full term of five years he exited the Rashtrapati Bhavan leaving the legacy of a president who spoke his mind to the government and yet, kept the bridges and friendships intact.

In January 2019, Mukherjee was named for the country’s highest civilian award Bharat Ratna by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who described him as the “outstanding statesman of our times”.

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Mukherjee also created a storm in the political circles by accepting the invitation by the RSS Chief to attend the valedictory function of RSS Third Year Training Camp in Nagpur in June 2018. Umpteen efforts were made by the so-called secular parties, progressive leaders, individuals and also a section of the media, but he listened to his conscious and attended the RSS function and explained his idea of India as ‘celebrating diversity’.