JOIN USIt's business as usual for workaholic President
A workaholic Pranab Mukherjee seems to have carried the practice to Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Three days after getting into Rashtrapati Bhavan, life continues to be hectic for the President of India who was not long ago UPA government’s principal trouble-shooter, putting 18 hours of non-stop work.
On Friday, like Thursday, Mukherjee had a busy schedule. He had his first meeting after becoming the President with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The Prime Minister called on him and what the two discussed has not been made public. However, sources close to the Prime Minister said that , “no major issue was discussed. It was only a courtesy call, nothing was on the agenda.”
The President met a host of governors and other officials on Friday. They included Arunachal Pradesh chief minister and governors of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh etc. He was also called on by Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath, chairman of the economic advisory council to the Prime Minister C Rangarajan, secretary general of Rajya Sabha V K Agnihotri etc.
Change in routine
Pranab had a packed Thursday too, a day after he took office but not before a long walk he took at the famed Mughal Gardens within the vast expanse of Rashtrapati Bhavan. Mukherjee had often expressed a desire of going on a long walk but pressure of work had prevented him almost always.
Thus, in a way, Thursday was a new leaf in his routine as he took that long walk, accompanied by his wife Suvra.
Opposition Leader in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, amongst his fan followers, was the first to meet him on Thursday. Defence Minister A K Antony also met the president, who is the supreme commander of defence forces. Vice-President Hamid Ansari too called on him.
Mukherjee held a meeting of the senior officials of the President’s Secretariat. Outgoing Secretary Christy Fernandes made a presentation of the functioning of various departments that are part of the President’s Secretariat. Mukherjee also met several governors: Shivraj Patil (Punjab), K Rosaiah (Tamil Nadu), Ram Naresh Yadav (Madhya Pradesh), B L Joshi (Uttar Pradesh), Nikhil Kumar (Nagaland) and Aziz Qureshi (Uttarakhand).