Modi gets emotional, says Pranabda a ‘father figure’

NEW DELHI: Describing President Pranab Mukherjee as a “father figure” and mentor who helped him negotiate the ways of Delhi, an emotional PM Narendra Modi lavished praise on the outgoing resident of

Rashtrapati Bhavan

on Sunday.

At a function where Mukherjee received the first copy of a coffee table book, ‘President Pranab Mukherjee – A Statesman’, Modi expressed deep gratitude for the guidance provided by the President and even broke down at one point. “Like a father figure, Pranabda has guided me. He would tell me, Modiji please take adequate rest, take care of your health,” the PM said.

Modi said it was his privilege that he got to work alongside Mukherjee. “Yeh mere jeevan ka bahut bada saubhagya raha ki mujhe Pranabda ki ungli pakad kar Dilli ki zindagi mein apne aap ko set karne ki suvidha mili (it was a big privilege in my life that I had the fortune of having Pranabda to help me settle into life in Delhi),” the PM said. Modi spoke about the “humane” side of the President, which the book attempts to bring out.

The generous reference marks what has been an even relationship between the Modi government and Mukherjee who was the nominee of the previous UPA government. Though the President has raised queries on occasion, he has appreciated major initiatives of the government such as demo-netisation and rollout of GST, launching the tax reform at a midnight function in Parliament’s Central Hall with Modi.

While supporting government policy, Mukherjee has also emphasised the need to preserve India’s traditions of tolerance and spoken against lawlessness in the name of vigilantism. But on the whole, he has had smooth working relations with the government and senior ministers have met him regularly on a host of issues.