Gone were the brisk walk and the volcanic temperament. The Central Hall of Parliament on Thursday witnessed the transformation of politician Pranab Mukherjee into President of India. As he took the ceremonial walk down the aisle, it was a new man who looked a bit distant and displayed few traces of what everyone familiar had known him as — Leader of the House in LS.
No fiery speeches to be made in defence of the government of which he was the Finance Minister till just a few weeks ago, President Mukherjee turned his attention to larger concerns: poverty, war, terrorism, social harmony, issues that a President of India is expected to talk of.
But there was a difference. In his rather short acceptance speech, President Mukherjee seemed to give an outline of his thinking about the polity and what should be the policy goals of a government. And, it is certainly not blind allegiance towards economic reform policies that bear the hallmark of Manmohanomics.