Mr. Pranab Mukherjee who was the 13th President of the country and served in the post from 2012-2017, has been awarded with India’s highest civilian award ‘Bharat Ratna’ by the current President Mr. Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday evening.
Mr. Pranab Mukherjee’s political career spanned around five decades, during which he held several crucial posts in the Congress and in the Indian governments led by several Prime Ministers including Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, PV Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh.
The 83-year old former President also served as the Union Finance Minister from 2009 to 2012 before his election as a President.
When serving as a Finance Minister, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee signed the letter that appointed Manmohan Singh as the Governor of the RBI (Reserve Bank of India).
Mr. Mukherjee was born on 11th of December in 1935 in a Bengali family in Mirati, which is a village in the Birbhum district in West Bengal. He completed his Masters in Political Science and History and also earned his LLB degree from University of Calcutta.
Post his selection for the most revered Bharat Ratna award, the former President, who is popularly known as “Pranab Da” by all expressed his gratitude on being conferred with the highest civilian award by saying “I’ve received much more from the people and from this country than I have given to it”. “I would like to express my deep gratitude to the people of this country… At the same time, with all humility, I accept this honour. I have conveyed my appreciation by talking to the President of the Republic. I also convey my deepest gratitude to the people of this country,” he revealed to the media on 26th of January.
All the political leaders across all parties of the country had wished Mr. Mukherjee when his name was announced for the Bharat Ratna award in back in the month of January this year.
India’s Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi had congratulated Mr. Mukherjee for his many decades of service to India. Mr. Modi took to the social media and tweeted “Pranab Da is an outstanding statesman of our times. He has served the nation selflessly and tirelessly for decades, leaving a strong imprint on the nation’s growth trajectory. His wisdom and intellect have few parallels. Delighted that he has been conferred the Bharat Ratna,”.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also took to twitter to congratulate Mr. Mukherjee and wrote “Congratulations to Pranab Da on being awarded the Bharat Ratna! The Congress Party takes great pride in the fact that the immense contribution to public service and nation-building of one of our own, has been recognized and honoured”.
The Bharat Ratna award announcement was made on 25th of January in a statement that was issued by the Rashtrapati Bhavan. The announcement also mentioned that the Bharat Ratna will be awarded posthumously to the revered social activist Nanaji Deshmukh as well as to famous Assamese singer Bhupen Hazarika.
The other Presidents of the country, who received the country’s highest civilian award the Bharat Ratna award, include Dr. S Radhakrishnan, Rajendra Prasad, Zakir Hussain and VV Giri.
India’s former President Pranab Mukherjee has been honoured with the Bharat Ratna on 8th of August, 2019 at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
