Kolkata: The Congress party has rewarded Pranab Mukherjee with the president's post because of his attitude and commitment towards the responsibilities he has been given, former finance minister's son, Abhijeet Mukherjee, said Sunday.
"He never thought of anything. What he expected was to perform the responsibility given to him at his best. It was because of the ability and commitment the party (Congress) rewarded him with this post," the younger Mukherjee told a TV news channel after his father romped home as India's 13th president, defeating former Lok Sabha speaker PA Sangma.
The former finance minister Sunday won almost 70 percent of the vote to secure his journey to Rashtrapati Bhavan.
"He never discussed whether he thought of becoming president or prime minister. He never discussed his future. He always said that he wanted to perform to the best of his ability," his son added.
Soon after he was declared president-elect, the 76-year-old Mukherjee said "he was very happy".
At the half-way mark, Sangma was way behind with 239,966 votes as counting continued, Mukherjee's polling agent Pravin H Parikh said.
IANS
First Published: Sunday, July 22, 2012, 20:56