After posts on social networking site Twitter reported that President Pranab Mukherjee was hospitalised, the Rastrapathi Bhawan on Monday released photos of him meeting with Union Ministers.
Several tweets, earlier in the day, suggested that the President had a minor heart attack and was admitted to the Army hospital.
The Rastrapathi Bhawan preferred not to react or openly contradict the reports, but to prove that Pranab is healthy it released photos of his meetings with ministers during the day. The photos showed Pranab meeting Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge, Culture Minister Chandresh Kumari and former Union Minister Suresh Pachouri.
Normally, when Union Ministers call on the President, the Rastrapathi Bhawan posts the photos of these meetings on the President’s official website.
According to sources, Pranab, 76, had undergone a general check up in the hospital on Monday. The President recently cancelled his annual retreat to Himachal Pradesh, beginning June 28, in view of the floods so that the state administration could focus on rescue operations.
He is scheduled to confer National Awards for Outstanding Services in the field of Prevention of Alcoholism and Substance (Drugs) Abuse, 2013 on June 26.