Former President Pranab Mukherjee passed away on Monday. He was 84. The condition of Mukherjee declined on Monday morning and he suffered a septic shock due to his lung infection, the Army’s Research and Referral Hospital said.
Pranab Mukherjee’s political journey started in West Bengal in the 1969 by-election in Midnapore when he was the election agent for V K Krishna Menon, who ran as an independent candidate. The then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi helped him get elected to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Parliament of India, on a Congress ticket. Thus at the age of 35, Mukherjee entered the Rajya Sabha. Besides serving two terms as finance minister, Mukherjee also held the post of commerce minister in 1993 and is known for championing the cause of trade liberalisation. He served as the 13th President of India from 2012 until 2017.
Pranab was born in a Bengali family in Mirati, a village in the Bengal Presidency of British India (now in Birbhum district, West Bengal, India). His father, Kamada Kinkar Mukherjee was active in the Indian independence movement and was a member of West Bengal Legislative Council between 1952 and 1964 as a representative of the Indian National Congress and was the member of AICC. His mother was Rajlakshmi Mukherjee. Mukherjee was conferred with Bharat Ratna last year.