Former President Pranab Mukherjee passes away

September 1, 2020 Hot from the Oven Valli Sarvani No comments

Former President of India, Pranab Mukherjee passed away on Monday. He was undergoing treatment for a lung infection at the Army’s Research and Referral Hospital.

His son Abhijit Mukherjee announced this matter on Twitter.

84-year-old Mukherjee was on ventilator support due to a deep coma. He was admitted to hospital on 10th August for removal of a clot in the brain. He slipped into a coma after the operation.

Pranab Mukherjee served as the 13th President of India from 2012 to 2017. He lost his wife Suvra Mukherjee in 2015. He is survived by his two sons Indrajit and Abhijit, and daughter Sharmistha.

Pranab Mukherjee hailed from Mirati village in Birbhum district, West Bengal.

He worked as a professor before he ventured into politics and taught Political Science to students at the Vidyanagar College in South 24 Paraganas, West Bengal.

He also worked as a journalist with a local Bengali newspaper, Desher Dak.

Former and late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi introduced him to the politics in 1969. He became a member of Rajya Sabha with her guidance. However, after the death of Indira Gandhi, Pranab Mukherjee quit the Congress and formed a political party, the Rashtriya Samajwadi Party.

Later he merged his party with the Congress due to talks with Rajiv Gandhi. He was said to be a loyalist to the Gandhi family and primary architect for the entry of Sonia Gandhi into politics. He took the responsibility of a mentor for her political career.

He served as Finance Minister and presented Union budgets for seven times. He was voted the Best Finance Minister in the World by Euromoney magazine in 1984. He served in the Pre-Liberisation era and Post-Liberalisation era and considered to be the only Finance Minister who did that.

Mukherjee was appointed as deputy chairman of the Indian Planning Commission in the reign of former and late Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao. Since then, his political career revived. He served in various key positions.

Image Credit: Deccan Herald / CC BY 2.0