Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday called on former president Pranab Mukherjee and sought his blessings. Modi, who takes oath as Prime Minister for the second time on Thursday, described Mukherjee as a ‘statesman’. "Meeting Pranab Da is always an enriching experience. His knowledge and insights are unparalleled. He is a statesman who has made an indelible contribution to our nation," Modi tweeted, posting pictures with Mukherjee.
"Sought his blessings during our meeting today," he added.
Mukherjee was conferred with the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour, on the recommendation of the Modi-led government in January this year.
Modi has in the past expressed his gratitude to Mukherjee for hand-holding him in national politics, parliamentary rules and procedures and the Constitution after the former shifted to New Delhi from his home state Gujarat to become the PM in May 2014.
Modi tweeted a picture of Pranab Mukherjee feeding him sweets during the meeting. Later, responding to Modi’s tweet on the meeting, Pranab Mukherjee said with a tweet, wishing the PM for his vision of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Viswas’ (everyone's support, everyone's growth, everyone's trust)". Interestingly, ‘sabka viswas’ was added by Modi to his ‘sabka saath sabka vikas’ during his speech at a meeting of newly-elected lawmakers of the BJP and its allies on Saturday last when he called for winning over the trust of religious minorities.