Former President of India, Pranab Mukherjeewas born on December 11, 1935. He served as the 13th President of India from 2012 until 2017. Mukherjeewas a senior leader in the Indian National Congress and occupiedseveral ministerial portfolios in the Government of India.
Pranab Mukherjee was born in the Birbhumdistrict of West Bengal. Pranab Mukherjee married Suvra Mukherjee on13 July 1957. Mukherjee was inspired by Deng Xiaoping and quotedhim quite frequently. His hobbies were reading, gardening, and music. He wasawarded India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, in 2019.
Read here: Some lesser-known facts about the Former President of India.
· Beforebecoming a politician, Mukherjee served as a clerk, lecturer of PoliticalScience at Vidyanagar College, Kolkata and a Journalist at Desher Dak.
· Hebecame a member of the Rajya Sabha in July 1969 on a Bangla Congress ticket.
· In1972, Indira Gandhi recruited him to the Indian NationalCongress along with merging the Bangla Congress into the party. Hebecame a Gandhi loyalist and was often described as her "man for allseasons."
· AsFinance Minister, Mukherjee signed the letter appointing Manmohan Singh as Governor ofthe Reserve Bank of India.
· Heimplemented many tax reforms, including scrapping the Fringe Benefits Tax andthe Commodities Transaction Tax. He implemented the Goods and Services Taxduring his tenure.
· In2010, he was awarded "Finance Minister of the Year for Asia" by EmergingMarkets, the daily newspaper of record for the World Bank andthe International Monetary Fund (IMF).
· Afterhis appointment as the 13th President of India, Mukherjee has rejected sevenmercy petitions including that of Afzal Guru and Ajmal Kasab.