Pranab Mukherjee for President

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Mukherjee was also jocularly called 'GoM Mukherjee' in political circles as he headed close to 33 Group of Ministers on various topics.

Mukherjee has five books published to his credit on political and economic issues and under his editorial guidance, the history of Congress was published in which there was a candid admission of excesses during the Emergency.

He got the Best Parliamentarian Award in 1997. Ten years later, the Padma Vibhushan followed for him in 2007.

In the Congress party, Mukherjee became AICC treasurer in 1978. Journos and AICC media department officials still recall Mukherjee's tenure as the media department chairman of the party. Mukherjee was AICC general secretary in 1998-99.

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In 1984-91, 1996 and 1998, Mukherjee was chairman of the campaign committee of the AICC for conducting national elections to Parliament, besides being a member of the Congress Working Committee and Congress Election Committee.

In government, Mukherjee held all the key portfolios including defence from May 2004 to October 2006 and external affairs from October 2006 to May 2009, besides the finance portfolio, which he held again in 2009 after a gap of 27 years.

In the past, he also held portfolios like commerce and steel and mines, revenue and banking (independent charge), shipping and transport, industrial development, commerce and supply -- besides presiding over a number of parliamentary committees.