RIP Pranab Mukherjee: Timeline of the political journey of Congress stalwart

New Delhi, Aug 31: Pranab Mukherjee, former president of India and Bharat Ratna, passed away at 84 after battling a long illness.

Mukherjee underwent a surgery for removal of a clot in his brain and was admitted at Indian Army's Research and Referral Hospital in New Delhi on August 10.

He had also tested positive for Covid-19 prior to the surgery.

Here is the timeline of Pranab Mukherjee's political life:

Mukherjee's talent was noticed by Congress leadership after he successfully managed V K Krishna Menon's campaign from the Midnapore by-election in 1969.

Widely viewed as a Gandhi family loyalist, Mukherjee has held top positions within the All India Congress Committee.

He later went on to become a close aide of Indira Gandhi. He was a part of Gandhi's Cabinet and remained active through the emergency (1975-77).

A testimony to his prowess, he emerged unscathed in the post-emergency era becoming Finance Minister (1982-84).

Mukherjee's first major political appointment was as the Union Deputy Minister for Industrial Development in Indira Gandhi's cabinet.

He later served as Finance Minister (1982-84), commerce minister (1993-1995), as external affairs minister (1995-96) and as defence minister in the Manmohan Singh government (2004-2006).

He was also appointed as leader of Rajya Sabha in 1980 and in Lok Sabha in 2004 and later in 2009.

Expelled from the Party during Rajiv Gandhi's Prime Minister-ship, he formed the Rashtriya Samajwadi Congress in 1986, and later came back strongly under the Narasimha Rao government.

Mukherjee was the 13th president of India from 2012 to 2017.

He has also rejected around 30 mercy petitions including those of 26/11 attacker Ajmal Kasab and Yakub Memon.

Addressing Parliamentarians at his farewell, Mukherjee conveyed that he has tried his best to follow the Indian Constitution, 'not just in letter, but in spirit' and added that the ordinance provision should only be used in compelling circumstances.