Parliament gets ready to bid goodbye to President Pranab Mukherjee
On July 23, Parliament will be hosting a farewell programme inside its hallowed Central Hall for the outgoing President.
In Short
- Parliament will host a farewell for Pranab Mukherjee.
- It will take place on July 23.
- Mukherjee will be presented with a coffee table book and memento.
The country's 13th President Pranab Mukherjee will be relinquishing office on July 24. His five year term soon comes to an end, and to mark this momentous occasion, Members of Parliament have planned a grand farewell.
On July 23, Parliament will be hosting a farewell programme inside its hallowed Central Hall for the outgoing President.
The programme will start at 5:30pm and will be addressed by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Sumitra Mahajan and Vice-President of the country and Chairman, Rajya Sabha, Hamid Ansari. The programme will last half an hour.
All members of Parliament, from both houses, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in attendance at the programme. The President will be presented with a coffee table book and a memento.
The book will have signatures from members of Parliament, including those of Prime Minister Modi, Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Speaker (Lok Sabha) Sumitra Mahajan, Deputy Speaker (Lok Sabha) Thambidurai and Deputy Chair (Rajya Sabha) PJ Kurien. Currently, it has been kept at the Central Hall for members to drop by and sign. The book has close to 695 signatures so far.
This book will also have photographs of President Mukherjee's visits to Parliament. The memento will have the signatures of the Vice-President and Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
In fact, the Speaker's speech will be embossed on a silk cloth that will be rolled and presented to President Mukherjee. The cloth will have art form from the President's native state, West Bengal printed on it.
All gifts will be packed in boxes craved by artisans from Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
Sources within the Lok Sabha Secretariat informed India Today that keeping in mind the President's native food tastes, 'Shondesh' will be the speciality served at the high tea for all guests.
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