On a hot June day, a sense of puzzlement gripped Congress circles.

Why
was Pranabda visiting the RSS headquarters to address a convention? His
daughter Sharmistha seemed to hit the nail on the head, saying
irrespective of what he said, his presence would be enough for the
Hindutva bandwagon to exploit the moment.
This was in 2018, when Pranab Mukherjee, then 82, had retired to a
government bungalow after touching heights few politicians reach —
President, minister in charge of key portfolios, a long career going back to
the days of Indira Gandhi and all worldly success.
A man who did not hesitate to express his views, Mukherjee ignored the
dismay in the ranks of the party he had been a part of and went right ahead
and quoted Jawaharlal Nehru, often at the receiving end of the Sangh
Parivar’s attacks, in his speech. But, the inherent message that he did not
see RSS as “untouchable” served to underline how he had been courted by
BJP and PM Narendra Modi.

Pranab Mukherjee, 'dada' of Indian politics, bids goodbye at 84

For someone who saw so much and travelled so far from the remote Mirati
village in Birbhum, the end can hardly define the contradictions life in
politics can be and which Mukherjee negotiated with aplomb. He was at the
centre of action during UPA, heading a record number of GoMs and playing
chief troubleshooter despite a trust deficit with the Gandhis that never quite
went away.
Live updates: Ex-President Pranab Mukherjee to be cremated today
The roots of the latent discord went back to 1984 when Mukherjee fell out
with Rajiv Gandhi in the wake of Indira Gandhi’s assassination. He denied
harbouring leadership ambitions and said Rajiv was misled. Being dropped
from the cabinet in 1984 was a shock, and after parting ways with
Congress, he returned six years later. When the time came, he proved a
dependable guide for Sonia Gandhi as she stepped into a new political
role, entering Parliament in 1999.
If he continued to rise, it was because Mukherjee was a manager par
excellence who worked across the communal, secular, socialist, capitalist
and corporate aisles and formed part of a group that did not have enemies
but only rivals in politics. Today, the likes of Sharad Pawar and Mulayam
Singh Yadav are fading. Mukherjee was the best of the bunch.
For all his political friendships, Mukherjee was a dyed-in-the-wool
Congressman, a key planner and strategist irrespective of whether the
party was in office or in Opposition. His sharp mind caught Indira Gandhi’s
attention and she brought him to Rajya Sabha, making him deputy and
minister of state for economic portfolios before he became finance minister
in 1982. He never forgot his debt to his mentor, often recalling her as
India’s greatest PM and a realist who ordered Pokhran 1.

Pranab's life with 5G, the five Gandhis

Mukherjee continued to hold important assignments in the Narasimha Rao

government as deputy chair of Planning Commission and then as cabinet
minister. He was Rao’s choice for political tasks, too. His report on the
Tamil Nadu situation ahead of the 1996 polls proved prophetic. He
advocated an alliance with DMK, advice that Rao ignored, leading to G K
Moopanar and P Chidambaram forming Tamil Maanila Congress. TMC and
DMK swept the state, making a crucial difference for Rao and Congress.
Later, Mukherjee accepted Sonia’s choice of Manmohan Singh as PM, but
was never shy of asserting himself. Officials waiting outside cabinet
meetings would recall that his loud tones often filtered out, indicating he
was doing most of the talking. In the aftermath of the 26/11 attacks, he
unleashed verbal salvos against Pakistan daily, blunting more than Singh
BJP’s calls for action. Mukherjee was a one-stop shop in UPA, the
intersection of politics, policy, ego and turf issues. He did not back away
from scraps himself, clashing with Chidambaram over several issues. Their
“joint appearance” outside North Block in September 2011 where
Mukherjee distanced himself from a note on 2G spectrum will remain a
photo op etched in memory. A few months earlier, he had created a stir by
writing to Singh saying he suspected a bugging device in his office.
And yet, for all his qualities, the PM’s post remained elusive. High-profile
and independent minded, his previous revolt made him unsuitable for the
top job when UPA defeated BJP in 2004. Sonia picked Singh, qualified,
dependable and bereft of any political and corporate baggage. Mukherjee
could not be home minister either – a post that was too powerful for an
intrepid politician. Too smart to get stuck on a missed bus, Mukherjee set
his sights on a new goal – Rashtrapati Bhavan. He worked hard to win
allies across parties. When the time came, he did not appear to be the first
choice. This time Mukherjee anticipated the resistance and forced
Congress’s hand as “secular” votaries like Mulayam Singh Yadav backed
him. On one particular night, Ahmed Patel sat with “dada” till the wee
hours, assuring him he was indeed the party’s choice.
Mukherjee was not just an astute politician. He earned respect for his
encyclopaedic knowledge of history and the Constitution. He was a key
arbiter of the India-US nuclear deal during which he kept the Left engaged
– and distracted – until it was too late for the comrades to block the pact.
For a man of staunch secular beliefs, he could see religion in a cultural
context. Every Durga Puja, he would be in Jangipur and don the bhadralok
dhoti and kurta, flaunt his janeu and immerse himself in a 10-day prayer.
He used it to good effect in Parliament as he tore into BJP’s political
Hindutva by quoting scriptures to highlight the heterogeneity of thought in
Hinduism.
Mukherjee ascended even higher when he was bestowed the Bharat Ratna
by the Modi government. While Congress leaders attended the award
ceremony, the Gandhis and Manmohan Singh did not. By then, Mukherjee
had risen above partisan fault lines even as he remained a Congressman
by conviction.