Nominated as its candidate by the UPA, whose troubeshooter he was for the last eight years, the 77-year- old leader from West Bengal is variously described as a walking encyclopedia, chronicler of Congress history, expert in matters of Constitution and governance and a stickler for rules in Parliament.
Ever seen as the perennial 'No 2' in the Congress, on whose ticket he became a Rajya Sabha member for the first time in 1969, Mukherjee may have missed becoming the Prime Minister on a couple of occasions but still he was the man to whom the government looked to during times of crisis.
Even his nomination as a candidate for President's election sparing him from the government has come after a huge dilemma for the Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who trusted him as a deft manager of the government that has often moved from crisis to crisis in both the versions.
Of course, Mukherjee had his own bad days in Congress which he had to quit in the mid 80s after he had evinced interest in becoming the Prime Minister on the death of Indira Gandhi in 1984.
It took some time before he came back into the party but once he was in there was no stopping his rise once again.
Mukherjee, who was elected to Rajya Sabha in 1969, was for a long time member of the Upper House before his first direct election to Lok Sabha in 2004 from Jangipur in West Bengal. He repeated his victory in 2009 elections but had expressed a desire not to contest elections again in view of his advancing age. (MORE)
