Farewell Pranabda, keep defending the Constitution from ‘outside’

A gentleman to the core, a politician par excellence, an administrator of immense ability, a parliamentarian of great skills - you cannot count Pranab Mukherjee’s qualities and abilities both as a politician and as human being. He is boundless and leaves behind an imprint on Indian politics and governance that will be difficult to match in times to come.

Pranabda, 81, was Indira Gandhi’s pick. She brought him to Rajya Sabha way back in 1969. It was a landmark year in Indian politics. It was the year when a new Indira was born as a political leader. She said adieu to the Congress old guards, formed a new Congress with a clear left-of-centre leaning and gave a new direction to India.

Indira Gandhi needed a new team of young and energetic politicians to implement her vision. Pranab Mukherjee fitted into Indira’s framework so well that he became one of her key political aides till she lived.

Pranabda cut political teeth in such a charged political atmosphere. And, he never looked back. His first stint as a junior minister was way back in 1973 in Indira’s council of ministers. But he was soon Indira’s favourite boy. Indira was not only his mentor. She was his life line in politics too.

“There has been no Prime Minister as popular as Indira Gandhi was and she continues to be the most popular leader even now,” Pranab Mukherjee said at a public function barely two months back.

He was full of praise for Indira Gandhi. We used to have long chats with Dada when he was the Congress spokesperson after Rajiv Gandhi lost power. Political discussions used to invariably turn to Indira Gandhi.

I distinctly remember how fondly once Pranabda narrated an anecdote recalling how Indira Gandhi reacted to India’s first World Cricket Cup victory under Kapil Dev’s stewardship. Some of us journalists were sitting with him at the Congress Party’s Akbar Road headquarter. The topic as usual turned to Indira Gandhi. Somehow our conversation drifted to cricket and he disarmingly said: “I do not know much about cricket. And, after a pause, he suddenly said: ‘No, Indiraji once made me interested even in cricket’.”

All of us journalists were suddenly curious about this. How come Dada, one of us interjected. Dada with a twinkle in his eyes told us: “You know, it was the day India had won its first World Cricket Cup at Oval. I got a call from the PM’s residence to come for a meeting. As I entered the room, I saw Indiraji in an exceptionally cheerful mood with a sort of festive atmosphere around. As soon as I entered, Indiraji looked at me and said ‘Pranab ko mithai do’.

I asked her what is the occasion, Madam? ‘Don’t you know India has won the World Cup’, Indira Gandhi quipped. ‘Oh, but since when you got interested in cricket,’ Mukherjee asked her. ‘It is not cricket alone; its India’s World Cup victory that we are celebrating today.’” And then he remarked: Indira was such a patriot that even Indian’s supremacy in the cricket world thrilled her.

Indira was in Pranabda’s bones. She literally taught him both the craft of politics and art of governance as well. The result was that Pranab Mukherjee transformed into a master system’s man who could deal with any crisis with utmost calm and could be comfortable in any ministry he was asked to handle.

His CV is full of ministries he handled over almost four decades of his active political career. Be it finance or foreign affairs or defence, you name a major or minor ministry and Pranabda has handled it with a finesse. He was so adept at dealing with government affairs that he virtually ran both the PV Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh government from behind the scene.

He headed so many Cabinet working groups in the Manmohan Singh government that bureaucrats treated him as a de facto Prime Minister - an office that he never held but deserved at least once. After all, he was the nuts and bolts man both inside the Congress party as well as the governments of both Rao and Singh. He could have run the country with grace, too.

Journalists often labelled Pranab as the Congress trouble shooter. He wasn’t at all the one. He was essentially the man who used to resolve any trouble within both his party and within the government ranks. And, the reason was that everyone respected him so much that none could refuse his advice. Remarkably, the advice used to be in the interest of the person concerned.

Pranabda has been a man of superb man management skills. A former bureaucrat from the finance ministry once told me that during the Budget formation exercises, senior officials often used to lose their cool amongst themselves.

Once Pranab Mukherjee would return late from Parliament or the Cabinet meeting, the matter used to be referred to Dada. He would first pay no attention to it and would in a cheerful mood say: ‘’Arey bhai, jalebi- imarti kuchch laao, sab ko khilao. Sab thak gaye hain kam kartey kartey”. Everybody would have a hearty laugh and the tension would melt within minutes.

Pranab Mukherjee is said to have a sweet tooth. He loves Bengali sweets which became customary with every President House meal during his tenure.

He was the stickler to rules and norms and never budged from them even if he had to pay a price. And, he did pay a heavy price for his habit soon after Indira Gandhi’s assassination.

Rajiv Gandhi asked him what was done to fill the vacancy of a Prime Minister in office. Pranabda told him that the senior-most member of the council of ministers is sworn in as the interim Prime Minister. Soon the parliamentary Party elects the fulltime successor who within days assumes office.

It was a simple matter of practice and norm that he explained to Rajiv Gandhi. Gulzari Lal Nanda being the senior-most Cabinet minister both in Jawaharlal Nehru’s and Lal Bhadur Shastri’s council of ministers had succeeded them both as acting Prime Minister.

Incidentally, Pranab Mukherjee was the senior-most Cabinet minister when Indira Gandhi died. Delhi power circuit is always full of conspirators. They somehow managed to convince Rajiv that Pranabda was conspiring to pip him to the top post in the country.

So, Pranab was not inducted into Rajiv’s first council of ministers. Indira’s senior-most aide took it as a slight and walked out of the Congress but was soon persuaded by Rajiv to return which he did. He was soon Rajiv’s key advisor.

Once I asked him why he walked out of the Congress Party. “It was improper for me to continue within the party when my boss had lost confidence in me,” pat came Pranab Mukherjee’s reply.

It was quintessential Pranab Mukherjee, pragmatic but humane in his dealings, a quality that kept him going up and up during his four-decade-long distinguished political career.

Pranab Mukherjee, India’s 13th President, retired with grace. But even in his retiring moments, he was concerned about protecting the Constitution and advising both the ruling and Opposition establishments how to gracefully run the government and Parliament so that democracy shines at the end of the day.

Well, India will miss the Gentleman of Indian politics whose immense services to both his party and the country will continue to loom large for decades to come.

Farewell Dada. But, even from the ‘outside’, keep defending the Indian Constitution which has a dark shadow over it.