Have exactly 2 months to go, says President Mukherjee, rules out second term

May 25, 2017 19:44

President Pranab Mukherjee probably gave enough hints on Thursday that he may not be in the race for another term in Rashtrapati Bhavan.

"I have exactly two months to go. July 25, a new president will assume office. I am sending back officials who have worked with me, back to their ministries and departments. One has gone to the commerce ministry, two to the ministry of external affairs," he said.

The President was speaking at a farewell tea organised for the media by the President's secretary Omita Paul for his press secretary Venu Rajamony, a career diplomat who has been appointed the Ambassador to The Netherlands. Rajamony will assume his new office in The Hague early next month.

Mukherjee's remarks assume significance in the context of the ongoing hectic political activities centred around a candidate for the President's election slated in July. The Congress-led Opposition has given enough indications that it will not be averse to a second term for Mukherjee if the government is acceptable to it. But the ruling dispensation has not given any hints about who it has in mind for the top post.

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