As Pranab Mukherjee passes away, we remember the man, the politician, the Rashtrapati.
Many ordinary citizens are drawn to by a sense of history and India's remarkable journey from bondage to freedom which culminated in this monumental building.
Here are some facts related to the Budget presentation in independent India.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1 will present a record eighth consecutive budget that is expected to contain measures to shore up weakening economic growth and ease the burden on the middle class struggling with high prices and stagnant wage growth while being fiscally prudent.
President Droupadi Murmu and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto arrived at Kartavya Path for the 76th Republic Day parade in a traditional horse-drawn buggy, a practice that made a comeback after a 40-year gap last year. The gold-plated, horse-drawn buggy is a black carriage with the national emblem embossed on it in gold. It was discontinued after the assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984 but was revived by President Pranab Mukherjee in 2014. The buggy's history dates back to the British era, with India winning ownership through a coin toss after independence.
Sharmistha Mukherjee, daughter of former President Pranab Mukherjee, has alleged a "rot" within the Congress party and called for serious introspection. She criticized the party's lack of ideology and its treatment of non-dynastic leaders, citing the case of former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao. She also questioned the party's failure to convene a Congress Working Committee meeting after her father's death, highlighting a perceived loss of institutional memory. Mukherjee, who has since left politics, also advocated for a memorial to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and a posthumous Bharat Ratna award for him.
Pranab Mukherjee passed away on Monday at the Army Research and Referral Hospital in Delhi at the age of 84. He was cremated on Tuesday with full state honours.
However, his son and former MP Abhijit Mukherjee said his father is showing "positive signs of improvement".
The former president was admitted to the hospital in Delhi Cantonment on August 10 and was operated the same day for removal of a clot in his brain.
'The condition of Shri Pranab Mukherjee remains unchanged this morning, He is deeply comatose with stable vital parameters and he continues to be on ventilatory support,' a statement from the hospital said.
The landmark India-US civil nuclear deal of 2008, brokered during Manmohan Singh's tenure as Prime Minister, is seen as a crowning achievement in his foreign policy legacy. The agreement ended India's nuclear isolation, fostered a strategic partnership with the US, and opened doors to advanced technologies and defense cooperation. This historic deal also laid the groundwork for India's engagement with the global nuclear community.
Families of two West Bengal women killed in a stampede at the Maha Kumbh Mela have alleged that they were handed over the bodies without death certificates. They received only a piece of paper mentioning that the body was given to them. The victims, Basanti Poddar and Urmila Bhuniya, were killed in the pre-dawn stampede on January 29. A senior West Bengal minister alleged that "total mismanagement" prevailed in the Maha Kumbh Mela.
Sitharaman, India's first full-time woman Finance Minister, broke away from the colonial tradition of carrying a Budget briefcase in July 2019, opting instead for a traditional 'bahi-khata', to carry the Union Budget papers.
Many world leaders on Monday condoled the death of former president Pranab Mukherjee, saying they have lost a true friend who made immense contributions to the strengthening of India's relations with their countries.
'The condition of Shri Pranab Mukherjee remains unchanged this morning. He is deeply comatose and is being treated for respiratory infection. 'His vital parameters are stable and he continues to be on ventilatory support,' the hospital said in a statement.
'Shri Pranab Mukherjee's health condition continues to remain critical. Presently he is haemodynamically stable and on a ventilator,' a statement from the hospital said.
The former president continues to be in deep coma, the Army's Research and Referral hospital said.
Doctors attending on him said that his vital and clinical parameters are stable and he is being closely monitored.
Pranabda hasn't given us any indication of the tough period when he realised Sonia Gandhi had decided to give the presidency not to him, but to then vice-president Hamid Ansari. He wrested the presidency from her, and handed her the biggest defeat of her UPA years, observes Shekhar Gupta.
Ambassador Venu Rajamony, who served as press secretary to President Pranab Mukherjee during his tenure, salutes the statesman and political legend, who passed into the ages on Monday.
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has said that the date of Ram temple consecration in Ayodhya should be celebrated as "Pratishtha Dwadashi" as it marks the "true independence" of India, which faced "parachakra" (enemy attack) for several centuries. Bhagwat said that the Ram temple movement was not started to oppose anyone, but to awaken the "self" (swa) of Bharat so that the country could stand on its own feet and show the path to the world. He also said that the invaders destroyed temples of the country so that the "self" of India also perishes.
Abhijit said he was in touch with Mamata and her nephew Abhishek before the assembly polls.
Dismissing 'speculation' and 'fake news' regarding the health of Pranab Mukherjee, his son Abhijit Mukherjee said that the former President is still alive and 'haemodynamically' stable.
The 84-year-old former president was admitted to the hospital in Delhi Cantonment on August 10.
The Congress on Saturday accused the Centre of insulting Dr Manmohan Singh, the country's first Sikh prime minister, by carrying out his last rites at the Nigambodh Ghat instead of a designated spot that could later become his memorial.
22 images that captures glimpses of a most unusual Indian who led the nation for 10 years.
Former President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday underwent a brain surgery at the Army's Research and Referral hospital for removal of a clot.
The 84-year-old former president was admitted to the hospital on Monday and was operated upon for removal of a clot in the brain. He is also COVID-19 positive.
After spending nearly 50 years in a colonial bungalow at 24, Akbar Road, the Congress moved into a new office on January 15. Rasheed Kidwai, who knows the history of the Congress better than the Congress, looks back at the people who breathed life into this address.
Shortly after former President Pranab Mukherjee passed away, leaders, including President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, paid tributes to him.
'The condition of Hon'ble Shri Pranab Mukherjee remains unchanged this morning (14 August 2020). He is under intensive care and continues to be on ventilatory support. His vital parameters are presently stable,' the hospital said in a statement.
'On a visit to the hospital for a separate procedure, I have tested positive for COVID19 today,' he tweeted. 'I request the people who came in contact with me in the last week, to please self isolate and get tested for COVID-19,' Mukherjee said.
What stood out in his 15-year journey as a member of the political executive at the Centre was his glowing record as India's most successful and effective finance minister. Both as prime minister and finance minister, he understood the importance of gradualism, except when the economy or the polity was in a crisis.
National Conference (NC) vice president Omar Abdullah Tuesday asserted that there should be no "fiddling" with the mandate of people in Jammu and Kashmir, and the Centre and the Raj Bhavan must not indulge in any "machinations".
He was colourful. He was dramatic. He was The Master of His Craft. There never will be an editor as versatile as Pritish Nandy, notes Nikhil Lakshman.
The long-time Congress leader and seven-time parliamentarian had tested positive for COVID-19 at the time of his admission and was being treated for a lung infection.
Pompeo said that the United States was deeply saddened to learn about the passing of Mukherjee.
'All the big things happening today in economic development have their beginning in Dr Manmohan Singh's ideas.'
From the dusty lanes of Mirati, life took the scholar politician to the imposing Rashtrapati Bhavan through a warren of powerful offices he held, but the village stuck, the bond only grew stronger.
Mukherjee's family and relatives paid their last respects clad in PPE kits while conforming to COVID-19 safeguards.
