Amid reports of his growing allegiance with the RSS, former President Pranab Mukherjee will today attend an event in Gurugram of Haryana which is ruled by the BJP. As per the schedule, Mukherjee will launch a series of projects in Harchandpur and Nayagaon villages (both in Gurugram) under the ‘Smartgram Project’ here in the presence of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.
On Saturday, Mukherjee’s office had issued a statement stating that he is visiting Gurugram at an invitation extended to him by the state government where he will inaugurate projects started by the BJP government during the last two years.
“He (Pranab Mukherjee) will be visiting Gurgaon at the invitation of the government of Haryana on September 2, 2018, to inaugurate projects started during the last two years along with ML Khattar, the Chief Minister,” the statement stated.
The statement from Mukherjee’s office was issued amidst reports that his ‘Pranab Mukherjee Foundation’ may collaborate with RSS in Haryana. But his office denied all such reports saying, “there have been reports in certain sections of the Media suggesting that the Pranab ‘Mukherjee Foundation (PMF) may collaborate with RSS in Haryana’. It is categorically clarified that there is neither any existing collaboration nor is there any such move in the offing.”
The Smartgram Project in Haryana was started in 2016 when Mukherjee was the President and had adopted a few villages.
Earlier, Mukherjee was criticised by a few Congress and other opposition leaders when he had attended an RSS function in Nagpur.
Mukherjee’s PMF was jointly launched by him and noted industrialist Ratan Tata in March this year. According to the foundation director Omita Paul, the mission is to initiate, support and execute projects that will create and use knowledge, creativity, and innovation to improve the quality of life in rural, semi-urban and urban areas.