Cong tried to bully Mukherjee: Goyal

NEW DELHI : The Congress tried to bully former President Pranab Mukherjee into not attending the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) event in Nagpur last week and tried to make a virtue out of its opposition later, senior Union minister Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday.

“They [Congress] realised that despite the outrage, Pranab da is such a practical person that they could not bully him into not going. When they realised he is a man of his own convictions, they tried to make a virtue out of their opposition,” Goyal said in an interview to Hindustan Times.

The Maharashtra leader who handles the railway and coal ministries, besides having the additional charge of finance and corporate affairs, also made light of the Shiv Sena’s claim that the RSS may project Mukherjee as the prime ministerial candidate in 2019 if the Bharatiya Janata Party falls short of a majority. “Do you believe everything you read in the paper and everything that everybody says?” Goyal asked.

The minister said RSS’ outreach to Mukherjee was a “normal thing”, similar to contact programmes conducted by the BJP. Goyal said its chief Mohan Bhagwat regularly met leaders of different political parties, as well as people from different walks of life.

“As Mohan ji rightly said, Pranab da will be Pranab da, and RSS will be RSS. But coming to the RSS headquarters doesn’t change him. Mahatma Gandhi came to RSS’ shakha. Did it change Mahatma Gandhi?” Goyal said.