New Delhi, July 23 (IANS): President-elect Pranab Mukherjee today said he could not comment on the clemency plea of 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru till he assumed office and studied the issue.
"I can't comment on Afzal Guru until I have assumed office and gone through the issue," Mukherjee told CNN-IBN in an interview, a day after he was elected India's 13th President with an overwhelming majority of Parliament Members and legislators voting for him across the political spectrum. It is one of the hottest issues awaiting his decision.
The comment came as the Shiv Sena, which supported his candidature, demanded that Mukherjee reject the mercy petition filed by Guru.
"We have many expectations from you. We urge you to reject Afzal Guru's mercy plea and hang him. Pranabda, you should do this on priority basis and should kick-start your career as President of India. It is an august conduct that we expect from you," Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray said in his latest edition of party mouthpiece Saamna.
The President-elect, who has held key ministerial portfolios of Finance, Defence and External Affairs in an eventful four-decade political career, was backed not just by partners of the ruling Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) but also by the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and Shiv Sena, which broke ranks with the opposition alliance.
And this is what he said moved him. "I'm particularly happy that those who committed, particularly those who don't belong to our party scrupulously adhered to their commitment and voted for me. That doesn't normally happen. I consider this a great reward to my long stay in public life."
Mukherjee, one of India's most experienced and canny politicians, also said animosity between political parties had left him disturbed. "The hatred between political parties bothers me," he said.
Assuring that he would be a non-political President, Mukherjee said he would work for "everybody". "It has been a long way from Mirati to Raisina. I was a very naughty child. I always got into trouble," he told CNN-IBN.
Mukherjee will taken oath on Wednesday before assuming the office of President of India and moving into Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Big Bengal presence at Pranab's swearing-in: It is 'Delhi Chalo' of a different kind. With West Bengal's Pranab Mukherjee all set to take over as India's president Wednesday, his family members, relatives and political colleagues are now bound for the capital to witness the swearing-in ceremony of the new first citizen.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who has had a hot and cold relationship with Mukherjee over the years and even opposed his candidature for the top post almost till the end before finally backing him in the election, would be leaving on Tuesday for attending the function at the Central Hall of Parliament.
Official sources said Banerjee had a cramped schedule on Tuesday and Wednesday, but her entire itinerary has now been redrawn to facilitate her presence in New Delhi. A film awards function slated for 6 p.m. here on Tuesday has been advanced by an hour for this purpose.
Pradesh Congress chief Pradip Bhattacharya is already in New Delhi, and all Congress MPs from the state are also likely to be present as Mukherjee caps his over four-decade-old political career, that began in Bengal in the 1960s, with the highest constitutional office of the land.
"A large number of Pradesh Congress leaders want to attend the historic programme. It is the first time in 65 years after independence that a Bengali is going to be the occupant of Raisina Hill," Bhattacharya told IANS from New Delhi.
Mukherjee's close aide Prodyut Guha, meanwhile, said: "The list of invitees is still being drawn up by Rashtrapati Bhavan".
Jangipur, the remote Lok Sabha constituency in Murshidabad district, has been electing Mukherjee in the last two general elections, and would have its representatives at the oath-taking function.
Four Congress state lawmakers from the constituency Mohd. Sohrab (Jangipur), Akhruzzaman (Raghunathganj), Abu Taher Khan (Noada) and Imani Biswas (Suti) would also reach Delhi to witness first-hand the swearing-in of tehir "Pranabda" as the new 'Rashtrapati'. "It is a great day for us. He has done so much for the development of Jangipur since his maiden election in 2004," Biswas told IANS.
In Mushidabad's neighbouring district Birbhum, festivities are continuing in Mukherjee's ancestral village Mirati and its nearby town Kinahar with their very own "Poltu" (Mukherjee's nickname) two days away from formally entering Rashtrapati Bhavan.
However, Mukherjee's elder sister will not be able to witness the event. "I cannot go as I have a fractured leg as also other age related problems. My son will go," said 83-year-old Annapurna Banerjee, sitting at her Kirnahar home.
However, Mukherjee's three younger sisters - Swagata Das Mukherjee, Krishna Chatterjee and Jharna Biswas - are already in Delhi having boarded the Rajdhani Express on Sunday.
The President-elect's son Abhijit, himself a Congress lawmaker from Nalhati in Birbhum, is already Delhi-bound.
