AHMEDABAD L TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2020 L PAGES 12 L 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208 L VOL 1 L ISSUE NO. 276
END OF
AN ERA!
Kartikey Dev Singh
T
he nation was still under British occupation when in the Bengali winter of 1935, a child was born in Birbhum’s Miriti village, who no one thought would play a pivotal role in shaping a nation for five long decades. A boy who would, inspite of all odds, continue to remain the powerhouse for his political party and who had the distinction of working with five members of the Gandhi family— Indira Gandhi, Sanjay Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. It is a testament to Pranab Da’s political acumen, administrative skill and his indomitable will power, that whenever Congress needed a strong man to lead important ministries, it was Pranab Mukherjee who was given the charge. Whether it was Indira Gandhi, who recognised his talents and accorded him the Rajya Sabha seat, or successive generations of Congress leaders, everyone was in awe of Mukherjee, who held a great command on various subjects and conducted his politics with dignity. Mukherjee’s career started as a junior minister in Indira Gandhi government in the 1970s
and ended when he demitted office as President of India in 2017. Often described as “man for all seasons”, Pranab Mukherjee held important portfolios like finance, defence, external affairs, deputy chairman of planning commission, leader in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and finally the President of the Union of India. In all these years of his active public life, he continued to have friends even in the most staunch opposition leaders, probably because the child, very thoughtfully, was named after the most important aspect of life—Pranab— meaning Love in Bengali!
Pranab Mukherjee 1935 - 2020