At RSS event, Pranab takes shot at Sangh

Former President touched on concept of nationhood

Former President Pranab Mukherjee addressed the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) at an event in Nagpur which has been described as a “significant event”.

Mr Mukherjee chose a path where no President has perhaps ever tread and for this he drew flak from his party as well as his daughter for agreeing to attend the RSS event. His presence made a nondescript RSS function a national event, reaching the message of the sangh to all corners of India.

Mr Mukherjee who served as the President of India from 2012 to 2017 in his speech touched the concepts of nationhood, nationalism and patriotism; and liberally quoted Jawaharlal Nehru, Rabindranath Tagore, Kautilya and Lokmanya Tilak.

But, not once in his speech did he refer to the RSS or to its work. Nor did he take the salute like others on the dais when the Sangh’s flag was lowered.

What came as surprise was despite holding Nehruvian ideologies close to his heart, Mr Mukherjee paid homage to RSS founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar as “a great son of mother India,” which did not go down well. This reminded one of L.K. Advani’s trip to Pakistan in 2005, when he called M.A. Jinnah a “great man”, who wanted to make Pakistan a secular nation. Since his return Advani has virtually faded away.

Experts opine that Mr Mukherjee has let it known of his hurt for being overlooked in 2004 as Prime Minister is intense, and with no compulsion of office he has no reason to remain loyal and nothing can hold him back.

But it was a balancing act which only Mr Mukherjee, who has navigated many a minefield in his six decades of public life, could manage.