Former President Pranab Mukherjee’s presence at RSS event is as political as it gets

New Delhi, June 7

Make no mistake, the presence of former President Pranab Mukherjee at the RSS event on Thursday is as political as it gets.
BJP functionaries and its ideological fountainhead may debunk the observation. But the fact remains that the event coincides with a hectic political activity by opposition parties in the country to build an anti-BJP front to counter the “new BJP” under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah in the 2019 general election.
These parties are apparently looking for a fulcrum to build their strategy to defeat the BJP. This is where the importance of being Mukherjee comes in. It may be unprecedented and sound strange but political observers believe Mukherjee can be that pivot.
He will definitely be supported by the lead player in the nascent Third Front–Mamata Banerjee of the Trinamool Congress– who will be more than happy to support a fellow Bengali. Given his political stature and wide acceptability, there is no reason why others will not support him.
In any case, Mukherjee, one of the tallest Congress leaders, is long rumoured to be unhappy over the way he was “treated” by his party, which chose Manmohan Singh over him for the Prime Minister’s post.
This apart, Mukherjee’s presence at the function will provide credibility and endorsement to the Sangh’s activities as a “social organisation”, an image that very few among the non-BJP/Sangh really believe in.