11 amazing facts about former President Pranab Mukherjee
India's 13th President pranab Mukherjee was born on December 11, 1935.
President of India, Pranab Mukherjee was born on December 11 in 1935. He hails from Mirati village in Birbhum district, West Bengal. He sworn in as the President of the country on June 15 in 2012. An influential politician, Mukherjee has been instrumental in solving many provincial problems of the Congress Party and the Government of India.
On his 80th birthday, we bring to you some lesser known facts about our President:
1. Not many know that apart from being a diplomat, Mukherjee was once a professor. He taught Political Science at the Vidyanagar College in South 24 Paraganas, West Bengal, in 1963
2. He had also worked as a journalist with a local Bengali newspaper, named Desher Dak.
3. Mukherjee was introduced to politics in 1969 by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who guided him to become a member at the Rajya Sabha.
4. The President is known to be a compulsive workaholic. According to his daughter Sharmishta, he works for almost 18 hours a day and hardly takes any leaves, except for his visit to Mirati, his hometown, during the Durga Puja.
5. Mukherjee is said to be the most versatile minister of India. He is the only minister to have handled four major ministries, defence, commerce, foreign and finance.
6. In 1984, Mukherjee was voted the Best Finance Minister in the World by Euromoney magazine. He is the only Finance Minister to have presented seven budgets.
7. After the demise of Indira Gandhi, Mukherjee quit the Congress and formed his own political party, the Rashtriya Samajwadi Party.
8. He is said to keep a diary for the last 40 years. The writings will be published posthumously, following the advice of Mukherjee himself.
9. He is the only Finance Minister to serve the post both, in the Pre-Liberisation and Post-Liberisation eras.
10. After his appointment as the 13th President of India, Mukherjee has rejected seven mercy petitions including that of Afzal Guru and Ajmal Kasab.
11. The President made history when he taught school children about the political history of India on the occasion of Teacher's Day on September 5 this year. Mukherjee taught secondary students of a government school at the President's Estate in New Delhi.
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