PM Modi Quick Learner, Has a Way of Doing Things: Prez Mukherjee

During the speech, Mukherjee also appealed to end disruptions in the parliament.

File photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with President Pranab Mukherjee. (Photo: PTI)

President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his quick learning of governing skills and parliamentary ways.

Speaking at the India Today conclave 2017, President Mukherjee lauded PM Modi for his rise to becoming not just a tall national leader, but one who very quickly has mastered the art of foreign relations.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has his own ways of doing things, and I must give credit. How quickly he picked up. All our previous PMs have had profound experience in the parliament, but PM Modi has picked up quickly from being the head of a federal state to lead the nation by mastering over foreign relations, external economy and internal factors.

Also Read: Narendra Modi Regains His 2014 Mojo (Well, Almost)

Need to Guard Against "Majoritarianism"

President Mukherjee also stressed on the need to guard against "majoritarianism", saying those in power must take the entire nation along at all times.

"Consultation and consensus is the best and often the only way forward," he said while lauding the speech of Prime Minister Narendra Modi after BJP scored landslide victories in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

I was extremely happy to hear Prime Minister Modi speak about the need for humility in the aftermath of his party’s victory in recent elections...He asserted that while electoral verdicts are determined on the basis of <i>Bahumat</i> (majority), the states will be governed on the principle of <i>Sarvamat</i> (consensus). This is indeed India’s tradition and what the large majority of our people desire to see in action.

Also Read: BJP’s UP Win Won’t Change Its Hostility Towards Muslims

During the speech, Mukherjee also expressed hope that the "vicious cycle" of disruptions and disorderly behaviour in the parliament can be broken. The President also made an appeal to political leadership across the spectrum to arrive at an agreement that all protests and airing of grievances will be undertaken without disrupting the functioning of Parliament and legislatures.

(With India Today, PTI inputs.)