NEW DELHI: The Congress circles are surprise and stunned after former President Pranab Mukherjee given his consent to participate at the RSS valedictory session on June 7 at Nagpur.
Several top party leaders, including former Union minister and senior leader, expressed reservations saying that they were unaware of the veteran Congress leader’s programme.
“He is an intelligent person. He has been the President of India. He is secular minded. So there will be no change in his behaviour by going there. He will remain the same,” former Union Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde told The Indian Express.
Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari sought to play safe when asked how the party viewed Mukherjee’s acceptance.
“I think the best person to answer that question is the former President himself. The invitation was extended to him. He has accepted the invitation. Ostensibly he is going. So therefore, if there are any queries with regard to that, he is the best person to answer that.”
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According to The Indian Express, Mukherjee, 82, has met RSS Sarsanghchalak (Chief) Mohan Bhagwat at least four times after vacating the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Mukherjee served as the president of India from 2012 to 2017. Prior to this, he has held several cabinet berths ranging from finance minister, Defence Minister to external affairs minister in a political career that spanned for nearly six decades.
Mukherjee, was invited to be the chief guest at the RSS headquarters in Nagpur where he will address the 25-day-long ‘Sangh Shiksha Varg- Tritiya Varsh Varg’ or the Third Year Course.
Volunteers who attend the first and second-year training camps are qualified for the final year camp, and can later become full-time RSS pracharaks.