Telangana Assembly pays rich tributes to Pranab Mukherjee

Hyderabad: The Telangana Assembly on Monday paid rich tributes to former President of India Bharat Ratna Pranab Mukherjee by remembering his contributions to the country and also to the formation of the State.

Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao introduced a resolution to condole the death of former President Mukherjee. Chandrashekar Rao recalled Pranab Mukherjee's services to the nation and also his key role in awarding statehood to Telangana. The Chief Minister referred Mukherjee as a pinnacle and said he was known as man of all seasons who had capabilities to solve complex problems holding different portfolios and rendering special services. "Pranab Da has come up in life with discipline, dedication and hard work. He used to cross a stream to travel to his school and went on to become the Union Minister and finally the President of India," said Rao.

Chief Minister said Pranab Mukherjee was one of the best Finance Ministers in the country and played a crucial role during the coalition era in the Indian politics. He was a credible leader who took into confidence the alliance partners of the government. "He was an ace politician who used to face the Opposition based on principles and never used to criticise individually. Even if he had committed mistakes, he used to apologise," said Chandrashekar Rao.

Rao said that Pranab Mukherjee had played a crucial role during the Telangana state formation. Mukherjee was the head of the committee, which was formed to take opinions of political parties in granting separate statehood to Telangana. He guided his high command for a solution on the separate state issue and also gave his consent to the Telangana State Formation Bill as President of India and became part of the history of Telangana.

Agriculture Minister S Niranjan Reddy said Chief Minister Rao maintained cordial relations with the former President stating that both the leaders were like father and son. The leaders recalled how the President broke the protocols to hug Chandrashekar Rao, who went to thank him after the formation of Telangana.

CLP leader Bhatti Vikramarka said that Pranab's death was not only a loss to the country but also to the people of Telangana. He recalled how Pranab Mukherjee became Finance Minister at a very young age and how he laid foundations for reforms. It was painful that he died of Covid-19, said Vikramarka. Ministers E Rajender, A Indrakaran Reddy, G Jagadish Reddy, MIM member Syed Pasha Quadri, TRS members B Suman, D Sudheer Reddy and Congress member K Rajagopal Reddy also expressed condolences. Later, the Assembly observed a two-minute silence in memory of the former President.