NEW DELHI, Oct 16: Former president Pranab Mukherjee on Monday said while all the Prime Ministers he was associated with had made “stellar contributions”, the present incumbent Narendra Modi has “unique capacity to work very hard and has clear vision” on what he wants to achieve.
“He has unique capacity to work very hard with strong determination….He has clear vision and he works very hard to achieve that,” Mr Mukherjee told NDTV here. Mr Mukherjee maintained that as an outsider to Delhi, “it was not easy” for Mr Modi to take the charge and run the affairs of nation in the national capital as he came with the background of a Chief Minister from a state.
The former President said Mr Modi learnt the “intricacies” of administration, foreign policy and various facets of India’s relationship with neighbours rather quickly. Mr Mukherjee also spoke highly about former prime ministers like Indira Gandhi — under whom he served for nine years and said, “to me she was the best….even 30 years after her death many Indians believe she was the best they had”.
Talking about P V Narasimha Rao, albeit in a lighter vein he said, Late Rao had mastered the “art” of indecisiveness. But he suggested that was not correct as the former PM Rao often deliberately did not take decision — as he wanted to avoid “contradictions and controversies”.
Mr Mukherjee described Dr Manmohan Singh as “a textbook Prime Minister” and said that under him during UPA-I and UPA-2, all the ministers had absolute free hand in steering the affairs of their ministries.
Mr Mukherjee has served as Defence, External Affairs and also as Finance Minister under Manmohan Singh from 2004 to 2014. Similarly, he said both Atal Behari Vajpayee and Rajiv Gandhi also made their contributions. Mr Mukherjee, who once moved out of Congress during the stint of Rajiv Gandhi, described the then Prime Minister as “harbinger of reforms” and said that his contributions were unique especially in telecom sector.
On the first BJP Prime Minister Vajpayee, whom he saw more as an opposition leader, Pranab Mukherjee said Vajpayee has been an “excellent orator” as Prime Minister. “……And sometimes, when he took decisions with determination, people were reminded of Indira Gandhi”.
Mr Mukherjee also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had consulted him before inviting all heads of SAARC nations to attend the swearing in ceremony on May 26, 2014. (UNI)
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