He walked 7km-8km and wrote his diary even on the day he fell sick

He walked 7km-8km and wrote his diary even on the day he fell sick

Abhishek Singhvi

01.09.2020

Anyone who interacted with Pranab Mukherjee —Pranabda to so many of us — came back with a lasting impression about this remarkable man. In public life and in politics, my earliest interactions, after those with Madhavrao Scindia, were with Pranabda. The former took me to meet the latter. I came back marvelling at this encyclopaedic intellect blessed with an elephantine memory. I frequently told Pranabda that politics’ gain was the loss of so many disciplines—constitutional law, the legal profession, academia, historical research and so on. Few could rival his precise precedentbased approach, plucking accurately from the air an anecdotal event which usually fit the problem at hand like a glove.

Just last year he regaled me for over an hour with the historical evolution of West Bengal politics, greeting me as the new West Bengal MP! Typically, he would rattle off precise figures of political parties’ relative strengths during each WB assembly election since Independence, with names and facts 50 years old!

Few could match his iron discipline, from his morning constitutional to his late-night diary entries, followed with unfailing and uninterrupted continuity. My access to him allows me to disclose that the very day he suffered the brain injury late at night, he had completed his 7 or 8 km walk (split into morning and evening segments) and written his treasured diary before retiring — early by his standards — at 11pm.

Opening the Parliamentary debate on Budget 2011for the Treasury benches, I had coined an acronym for the budget, each letter of which applied equally to its author, Pranabda. In my acronym ‘DIRECT’, D stood for discipline, I for inclusive, R for reform-oriented, E for expenditure & growth reduction, C for creative and T for transformative.

The real USP of Pranabda was his rock-like solidity. He had humongous and unmatched experience, a middle-ofthe-road approach on economic issues, which leveraged the virtues of a historically licensed and currently liberalising economy with the benefits of a free market approach, without becoming starry eyed or being swayed by either. His elephantine memory, a unique mix of political grip with technocratic expertise and an unprecedented mastery of procedures, rules, convention, practices and precedents, set him apart.

Singhvi is a Congress MP and eminent jurist

A left-of-centre centrist who was a master storyteller

On each of four vital criteria available for any individual’s evaluation, Pranabda scored highly and in different ways. His talent was legendary. There are few, if any, who possessed his in-depth knowledge and easy familiarity with the intricacies of policymaking on totally unrelated subjects. He was a man for all seasons and I cannot think of any occasion when he failed to deliver.

Secondly, his ideological commitment was clear and consistent: he was a slightly left-ofcentre centrist, with a balanced approach on social and economic issues, but consistent with the socialist context of a transforming and unequal economy like India and with the inclusive philosophy of the party he represented.

Thirdly, his temperament, criticised by some as short and hot, was fully understandable for a man heavily pressed for time, who had no time for small talk or idle political gossip. But catch him with time or in a relaxed mood (like a flight to Kolkata or elsewhere, as happened with me more than once), and you would be treated to a delightful experience of old-world charm, anecdotal treasures, deep and incisive analysis and a childlike simplicity.

Finally, his commitment to his convictions was strong, honest and sincere: he was incapable of pretensions and came across as he was, without hypocrisy or camouflage.

In a 2012 article before Pranabda was even selected as the Presidential nominee by diverse parties, Inder Malhotra quoted an unnamed writer who described Pranabda as a “front person, reference point, troubleshooter, lightning rod, live wire, fulcrum, flywheel, and, indeed, the very heart and soul of the government”. Malhotra added: “This was a mind boggling... stupendous achievement for someone with most modest beginnings... who had to walk a few miles to the nearest school.” He was the go-to man for everything in UPA I and II and the number of EGOMs/GOMs he headed was testimony to this.

In our late-night meetings, he would tell me how Ajoy Mukherjee, a fine leader, expelled unfairly by Atulya Ghosh, formed the Bangla Congress, starting Pranabda’s political career in 1967. Bangla Congress sent him to Rajya Sabha, where, Indira Gandhi, impressed with his industry and analysis, started relying on him and appointed him commerce minister of India at the age of 42. After his exile (he named the persons responsible for it), Rajiv himself appointed him spokesperson. He would frequently tell me (whilst I would deny) that he had two failings because of which he could not aspire to be PM — his lack of fluency in Hindi and the fact that he was never elected to Lok Sabha (cured later for one term).

India was fortunate in having the indefatigable spirit, the unending zest for sincere hard work, the sagacious counsel and anchor-like stability of a wise philosopher and guide like Pranab Kumar Mukherjee.

Singhvi is a Congress MP and eminent jurist

INDISPENSABLE: Mukherjee was described as the go-to man for both the UPA governments

In A Select Club

Pranab Mukherjee is one of only three people (PMs holding portfolios excluded) who have held three or more different portfolios in the Cabinet Committee on Security, which is the key decision-making body of the Cabinet — in his case finance, defence and external affairs. Y B Chavan is the only one to have held four — finance, defence, home and external affairs — while R Venkataraman held the finance, defence and home portfolios at different points. Like Mukherjee, Venkataraman also went on to become President.