When former President Pranab Mukherjee’s name was announced as the guest speaker at the valedictory function of the ‘Sang Shiksha Varg’ in Nagpur, the headquarters of the Sangh, there was huge controversy all around. More than the BJP leaders, the Congress leaders openly criticized the veteran politician for agreeing to be present at the RSS programme.
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Some of the Congress members even tagged him as opportunist, one who is too keen to get the Bharatratna. In reality, Pranab Mukherjee stumped everyone with his usual composure and balanced speech which has won accolades for holding the theme in a dignified manner.
Beforehand when it was told that the former President is going to deliver a lecture on nationalism, patriotism and that too with RSS champ, it caused huge surprise. Even his daughter Sharmistha Mukherjee expressed strong displeasure over the decision to participate in the valedictory function. Yesterday, when he was delivering the speech, almost all media channels did broadcast it live and no doubt, Pranab Da, the true Chanakya of Indian politics, has become relevant again.
Throughout the speech, Pranab Mukherjee has stressed on inclusive nature of India and also the composite culture. It came as no surprise that he reiterated the issue of tolerance and also understanding the ethos of secularism. He mentioned the role of Gandhi, Nehru and Patel but didn’t mention Netaji or any other leader.
To be absolutely accurate, his speech at Nagpur didn’t deviate much from his regulation speeches. Rather, it looked like he is reading from Class X history or social science book. Interestingly, he ended his speech with Vande Mataram which is quite uncharacteristic. Categorically he also didn’t mention anything regarding the RSS or the emergency phase.
Overall it can be said that Pranab Mukherjee has been successful enough to get maximum TRP with this. From RSS’s perspective, for the first time, the shakha at Nagpur got such huge coverage and also helped to redeem credibility in public health. Nevertheless, both Congress and BJP don’t have too much to get worried about the whole sequence of events. If Pranab Mukherjee decides to join BJP in near future, it would be a dramatic event in national politics. Anyhow, thankfully, the speech didn’t look to create any polarization and the old man deserves kudos for coming up with a nicely carved speech.
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