Modi pens farewell to Pranab, who tweets letter
PM Narendra Modi praised former President Pranab Mukherjee’s “strength of intellect and wisdom”, which, he said in his farewell letter to the President, helped them work with synergy despite ideological differences. Mukherjee tweeted a copy of the letter, which he said “touched my heart”, on Thursday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised former President Pranab Mukherjee’s “strength of intellect and wisdom”, which, he said in his farewell letter to the President last week, helped them work with synergy despite believing in different ideologies.
Mukherjee tweeted out on Thursday a copy of the letter, which he said “touched my heart”.
The letter offers glimpses of the Prime Minister’s deep respect for Mukherjee, who was one of the senior-most leaders of Modi’s arch-rival party, the Congress, before he became President in 2012. “Pranab da, our political journeys took shape in different political parties. Our ideologies, at times, have been different. Our experiences are also varied. My administrative experience was from my state, whereas you have seen the expanse of our national polity and politics for decades...”
“Yet, such is the strength of your intellect and wisdom that we were able to work together with synergy,” the PM said in his letter.
Mukherjee retired as President last month.
During one of his farewell speeches earlier, Mukherjee had said that there were differences between PM and him but it never affected the government’s functioning.
Modi showered praise on Mukherjee, describing him as a father-figure whose legacy will continue to guide him. “We will continue to draw strength from your democratic vision of taking everyone along,” said Modi, a leader often criticised by rivals for taking unilateral decisions.
The Prime Minister said Mukherjee opened “the Rashtrapati Bhavan to initiatives and programmes that recognized innovation and the talent of India’s youth” as an example of him placing the wellbeing of the nation over everything else.