Pranab Mukherjee: A man who missed being the 'King', but was 'Sir' to PMs

Once seen as future Prime Minister, Pranab Mukherjee ended up becoming the President of India, and a Bharat Ratna, and a leader the RSS lionised

It was hot, that evening of May 22, 2004, a day before the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was to be sworn in. This was the first major tryst of the Congress with coalition politics in New Delhi. As television channels were going wild speculating about portfolios, Pranab Mukherjee was sitting quietly in his small study in his Talkatora Road residence, going through various reports on the functioning of the Union home ministry; a few friends had told him that in a few hours he would be India’s Union home minister. Kashmir had seen a terror attack and some news channels