KUMAR ANSHUMAN

The importance of being Pranab

- Story Dated: Thursday, April 5, 2012 14:53 hrs IST 

 By Kumar Anshuman

July 21, 1969. It was around 7.30 p.m. in Birbhum, West Bengal. The ears of Kamada Kinkar Mukherjee and Abhijit Mukherjee were glued to the radio. The Bangla news bulletin started and the first headline was American astronaut Neil Armstrong landing on the moon. Then came the news they were waiting for—five persons from Bengal were elected to the Rajya Sabha. Pranab Mukherjee, Kamada’s son and Abhijit’s father, was the second name mentioned.
Mukherjee, now 76 and Union finance minister, has come a long way since then. He has handled all important portfolios except home ministry at least once in his 41 years in Delhi. He became a deputy industry minister in 1973, and since then has been a vital cog in every Congress government. As BJP leader L.K. Advani once pointed out: “Sometimes I think what would have happened to the UPA government had there not been a person called Pranab Mukherjee.”
Mukherjee’s importance in the United Progressive Alliance government is evident from the fact that he heads all but one of nine empowered groups of ministers. Then there are 15 groups of ministers which he leads.
On March 16, he presented his eighth Budget (including one interim Budget)—second only to Morarji Desai, who presented 10 of them. Mukherjee’s first stint in the North Block was in 1982, under Indira Gandhi. When he read a Budget speech which lasted one hour and thirty-five minutes, Indira said: “The shortest finance minister has presented the longest budget.”
In his current tenure, India remained relatively immune to the financial turmoil around the globe owing to his perfect blending of adeptness and caution. “This man is extraordinary,” said K.V. Thomas, minister for food and consumer affairs. “For every issue he has a solution.”
Some call him Mr Fixit, some vintage wine. He makes a statement and an issue gets resolved. “He is the best prime minister we are yet to have,” said Arun Shourie, writer and former Union minister.
His money management skills were evident even in his childhood. A young Mukherjee—or Poltu, as he was called at home—used to go grocery shopping. Though his mother gave him the exact amount required, Poltu could manage something for his pocket money. “Ma has counted out the exact change, but is she going to measure the exact weight of the groceries?” he would tell his elder brother Piyush.
“He is always flexible and I have never seen him being adamant on something,” said Kaushik Basu, chief economic adviser, finance ministry. Mukherjee is not an economist. He taught political science in a government college in Bengal. “He is a statesman who understands what is going to happen in future,” said Abhijit, his son and legislator from Nalhati, West Bengal.
Bureaucrats admire Mukherjee’s abilities to multi-task and give space to everyone. Said Basu: “At one moment he discusses some economic issues with great interest. At the very next he would be talking on a political issue. The switch-over is so smooth and articulate.”
Mukheerjee’s memory and knowledge of different subjects are impeccable. “He is a scholar and you come to know it when you meet him,” said Basu. Whenever an illustrious economist or scholar comes to India, Basu ensures that they meet Mukherjee. “It is something the both sides enjoy,” said Basu. Recently, when Jacques Dreze, economist and father of development economist Jean Dreze, came to India, Basu took him to Mukherjee’s North Block office. Dreze asked something about the history of the building. To Basu’s astonishment, Mukherjee started talking about things like where Lord Mountbatten sat and also where Liaquat Ali Khan sat in the building on the opposite side of the road.
When Basu was editing The New Oxford Companion to Economics in India with Annemie Maertens, there was a chapter on Budget making in India which he wanted Mukherjee to write. Mukherjee agreed but could not find time to write it. Finally, one day Basu went to him with a recorder and asked him to dictate. Mukherjee started right from Budgets in the 1930s. “What was amazing was the dates, the figures on the size of the Budget and other statistics came out fluently without a mistake,” said Basu.
As a political heavyweight Mukherjee’s credentials are acknowledged even by the opposition parties. “He follows certain basic principles and is fully aware of rules and procedures,” said Somnath Chatterjee, former Lok Sabha speaker. When Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav became Uttar Pradesh chief minister, he came to Parliament to thank everyone. He greeted everyone with folded hands but touched Mukherjee’s feet. Mukherjee likes the young faces in politics and is fond of the youth brigade of ministers in the Union government. “I am very happy to see young boys like you doing so well,” he told Union Minister Sachin Pilot at the January annual lunch at his house.
Mukherjee’s ability to tackle problems could be attributed to the friendships that he has made in the long political career. In 1967, C.N. Annadurai invited Bengal chief minister Ajoy Mukherjee for a rally in Madras. Ajoy sent a young Pranab as his representative. At Madras airport, it was M. Karunanidhi who received him. The relationship still continues, and whenever the DMK, a UPA member, is unhappy with a decision taken in Delhi, Mukherjee flies to Chennai.
A workaholic, Mukherjee’s day starts at six in the morning. He takes a walk in the lawn for about half an hour and then reads newspapers over several cups of tea. Around 9 a.m. he takes a bath and performs his daily puja. Then he leaves for office, often skipping breakfast. On a normal day at office, he stays till around 10.30 p.m. Then he meets people who come to see him and reaches back home around midnight. “When I want to talk to him, I usually check in between his meetings and work. I wait till he finishes his day,” said Abhijit.
Mukherjee has a sweet tooth. “If he sees rasagula, before my mother or my wife could stop him, he would gulp one or two pieces,” said Abhijit. During the days of Budget preparation, he stays late in the office. And meetings happen over jalebi, balushahi and coffee. “He loves balushahi,” said Basu.
Over the years, Mukherjee has become short-tempered, which is widely accepted because everybody knows he will calm down the very next moment. He knows the world has changed as well. “Today, India has global responsibilities of a kind that it didn’t have earlier. Our presence at the high table of global economic policy makers is a matter of some satisfaction. It, however, places new responsibilities on our shoulders,” he said during the Budget speech.
Mukherjee is deep-rooted in history and politics, which reflects in his decision making. Despite his hectic schedule, he takes care of his constituency, Jangipur. “Every day he would call and take note of the happenings in Jangipur,” said Mohammad Shorabuddin, Congress legislature party chief in Bengal. During Durga Puja, he makes it a point to go to his village in Birbhum and perform puja at his family temple. He is president of the managing committee of the college where he taught more than four decades ago. And he still listens to the call, as he told THE WEEK a few years ago: “My mind says I should say goodbye to politics. But my heart does not allow it.” May his heart prevail.
with Rabi Banerjee