Former President Pranab Mukherjee's son Abhijit Mukherjee on Saturday expressed happiness at his father being conferred with the nation's highest civilian honour Bharat Ratna, and said he is proud of his father who has been in public life for 50 years.
"It is a very good feeling and I feel very proud as a son. He has been in public life for 50 years and served India in various capacities. We are thankful to the people of India and the government," he said.
The announcement of Bharat Ratna to the former President was made by the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Friday.
Mukherjee was the President from 2012 to 2017 and his political career spanned about five decades, during which he held various key posts in the Congress as well as in the governments of Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, P V Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh.