india

Updated: May 28, 2019 13:44 IST

Prime Minister-elect Narendra Modi on Tuesday called on ex-president Pranab Mukherjee, a former Congress leader for almost five decades, and said that meeting him was always ‘enriching’.

“Meeting Pranab Da is always an enriching experience. His knowledge and insights are unparalleled. He is a statesman who has made an indelible contribution to our nation. Sought his blessings during our meeting today,” the Prime Minister tweeted.

The Narendra Modi government in January this year conferred the highest civilian award Bharat Ratna on the former President Pranab Mukherjee along with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) ideologue the late Nanaji Deshmukh and decorated singer the late Bhupen Hazarika.

Also, last year Mukherjee, 83, spoke at an annual RSS event in Nagpur last year. His presence at the Sangh’s HQ in Nagpur, where he paid homage to RSS founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar as “a great son of mother India” and toured the building with the outfit’s chief Mohan Bhagwat and other senior functionaries, was seen by some as “bad optics”, especially coming from a man who hold Nehruvian ideologies close to his heart.

Meeting Pranab Da is always an enriching experience. His knowledge and insights are unparalleled. He is a statesman who has made an indelible contribution to our nation.



Sought his blessings during our meeting today. pic.twitter.com/dxFj6NPNd5 — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 28, 2019

BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav tweeted his appreciation of former president Pranab Mukherjee’s speech at an RSS event calling it ‘great’.

“Great address by Dr Pranab Mukharjee at Nagpur. His address and Dr Bhagwat’s address are in a way complementary to each other. Nation First is the core message of both,” Madhav had tweeted.