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The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), known colloquially as the Hare Krishna movement, is a Gaudiya Vaishnava religious organization.^[1] It was founded in 1966 in New York City by "His Divine Grace" Abhay Caranaravinda Bhaktivedanta Svami "Prabhupada".^[2] Its core beliefs are based on traditional Hindu scriptures such as the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam and the Bhagavad-gītā,^[3] both of which, according to the traditional Hindu view, date back more than 5,000 years. The distinctive appearance of the movement and its culture come from the Gaudiya Vaisnava tradition, which has had adherents in India since the late 15th century and Western converts since the early 1930s.^[4]

Krishna and Radha with Gopis, image at ISKCON Mayapur temple

ISKCON was formed to spread the practice of bhakti yoga, in which aspirant devotees (bhaktas) dedicate their thoughts and actions towards pleasing the Supreme Lord, Krishna.^[5][6] ISKCON today is a worldwide confederation of more than 400 centers, including 60 farm communities, some aiming for self-sufficiency, 50 schools and 90 restaurants.^[7] In recent decades the movement's most rapid expansions in terms of numbers of membership have been within Eastern Europe (especially since the collapse of the Soviet Union) and India.^[8]

Beliefs and history[link]

Ratha Yatra festival in Moscow, Russia.

For further information see: Achintya Bheda Abheda and Gaudiya Vaishnavism

ISKCON devotees follow a disciplic line of Gaudiya Bhagavata Vaishnavas and are the largest branch of Gaudiya Vaishnavism.^[9] Vaishnavism means 'worship of Vishnu', and Gauḍa refers to the area where this particular branch of Vaishnavism originated, in the Gauda region of West Bengal. Gaudiya Vaishnavism has had a following in India, especially West Bengal and Orissa, for the past five hundred years. Bhaktivedanta Swami disseminated Gaudiya Vaishnava Theology in the Western world through extensive writings and translations,^[10] including the Bhagavad Gita, Srimad Bhagavatam (Bhagavata Purana), Chaitanya Charitamrita, and other scriptures. These works are now available in more than seventy languages and serve as the canon of ISKCON. Many are available online from a number of websites.^[11][12]

Early Western conversions to monotheistic Krsna Vaisnavism or the Bhagavata Vaisnava line which forms the basis of the ISKCON philosophy were recorded by the Greeks and are reflected in the archaeological record.^[13][14]

Krishna is described as the source of all the avatars.^[15] Thus ISKCON devotees worship Krishna as the highest form of God, svayam bhagavan, and often refer to Him as "the Supreme Personality of Godhead" in writing, which was a phrase coined by Prabhupada in his books on the subject. To devotees, Radha represents Krishna's divine female counterpart, the original spiritual potency, and the embodiment of divine love. The individual soul is an eternal personal identity which does not ultimately merge into any formless light or void as suggested by the monistic (Advaita) schools of Hinduism. Prabhupada most frequently offers Sanatana-dharma and Varnashrama dharma as more accurate names for the religious system which accepts Vedic authority.^[16] It is a monotheistic tradition which has its roots in the theistic Vedanta traditions.^[17]

Hare Krishna mantra[link]

The popular nickname of "Hare Krishnas" for devotees of this movement comes from the mantra that devotees sing aloud (kirtan) or chant quietly (japa) on tulsi mala. This mantra, known also as the Maha Mantra, contains the names of God Krishna and Rama.

The Maha Mantra:

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna

Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama

Rama Rama Hare Hare

Seven purposes of ISKCON[link]

When Srila Prabhupada first incorporated ISKCON in 1966, he gave it seven purposes:^[18]

1. To systematically propagate spiritual knowledge to society at large and to educate all people in the techniques of spiritual life in order to check the imbalance of values in life and to achieve real unity and peace in the world.
2. To propagate a consciousness of Krishna, as it is revealed in the Bhagavad-gita and the Srimad-Bhagavatam.
3. To bring the members of the Society together with each other and nearer to Krishna, the prime entity, thus to develop the idea within the members, and humanity at large, that each soul is part and parcel of the quality of Godhead (Krishna).
4. To teach and encourage the sankirtana movement, congregational chanting of the holy names of God as revealed in the teachings of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
5. To erect for the members, and for society at large, a holy place of transcendental pastimes, dedicated to the personality of Krishna.
6. To bring the members closer together for the purpose of teaching a simpler and more natural way of life.
7. With a view towards achieving the aforementioned purposes, to publish and distribute periodicals, magazines, books and other writings.

Four regulative principles[link]

Bhaktivedanta Swami prescribed four regulative principles, in relation to the four legs of dharma,^[19] as the basis of the spiritual life:

• No eating of meat (including fish) or eggs (lacto-vegetarianism)
• No illicit sex
• No gambling
• No intoxication (including alcohol, caffeine, tobacco and other recreational drugs).

The four legs of Dharma are:^[19]

• Daya: Mercy
• Tapas: Self-Control or Austerity
• Satyam: Truthfulness
• Śaucam: Cleanliness of body and mind

Preaching activities[link]

ISKCON is known for their energetic active preaching. Members try to spread Krishna consciousness, primarily by singing the Hare Krishna mantra in public places and by selling books written by Bhaktivedanta Swami.^[20] Both of these activities are known within the movement as Sankirtan. A study conducted by E. Burke Rochford Jr. at the University of California found that there are four types of contact between those in ISKCON and prospective members. Those include: individually motivated contact, contact made with members in public arenas, contact made through personal connections, and contact with sympathizers of the movement who strongly sway people to join.^[21] According to the doctrine of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, one does not need to be born in a Hindu family to take up the practice of Vaishnavism. There are ISKCON communities around the world with schools, restaurants and farms. In general, funds collected by ISKCON are treated as communal property and used to support the community as a whole and to promote the preaching mission.^[22] Many temples also have programs (like Food for Life) to provide meals for the needy. Also, ISKCON has recently brought the academic study of Krishna into western academia as Krishnology.

Bhaktivedanta Institute[link]

The Bhaktivedanta Institute (BI) is the scientific research branch of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. Founded in 1976 by Bhaktivedanta Swami, it advances the study of the nature and origin of life, utilizing Vedic insights into consciousness, the self, and the origin of the universe. BI motto in Sanskrit language: "Athato brahma jijnasa" "One should inquire into the Supreme." BI has established the world's first graduate degree program (M.S./Ph.D) in consciousness studies at Mumbai in collaboration with the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, one of India's top technical schools. Subjects include Life Sciences, Artificial Intelligence, Mathematics and Philosophy of Science. Currently Ravi Gomatam is the Director of Bhaktivedanta Institute.

Food for Life[link]

ISKCON has inspired, and sometimes sponsored, a project called Food for Life. The goal of the project is to "liberally distribute pure vegetarian meals (prasadam) throughout the world", as inspired by Bhaktivedanta Swami's instruction, given to his disciples in 1974, "No one within ten miles of a temple should go hungry . . . I want you to immediately begin serving food".^[23] The international headquarters known as Food for Life Global site, established by Paul Rodney Turner (ref) and Mukunda Goswami,^[24] coordinates the project. Food for Life is currently active in over sixty countries and serves up to 2 million free meals every day.^[24] Its welfare achievements have been noted by The New York Times and other media worldwide.^{[25][26][27][28]}

Management structure[link]

Satsvarupa dasa Gosvami (left) one of the original members of the Commission, in 1970 known under alias Sriman Satsvarupa Das Adhikary, with his disciple Yadunandana Swami (right), principal of Bhaktivedanta College

Bhaktivedanta Swami spent much of the last decade of his life setting up the institution of ISKCON. As a charismatic leader, Bhaktivedanta Swami's personality and management had been responsible for much of the growth of ISKCON and the reach of his mission.^[29][30]

The Governing Body Commission (or GBC) was created by Bhaktivedanta Swami in 1970.^[31] In a document Direction of Management written on 28 July 1970 Prabhupada appointed the following members to the commission, all of them non sannyasi:^[29]

1. Sriman Rupanuga Das Adhikary
2. Sriman Bhagavan Das Adhikary
3. Sriman Syamsundar Das Adhikary
4. Sriman Satsvarupa Das Adhikary
5. Sriman Karandhar Das Adhikary
6. Sriman Hansadutta Das Adhikary
7. Sriman Tamala Krsna Das Adhikary
8. Sriman Sudama Das Adhikary
9. Sriman Bali Mardan Das Brahmacary
10. Sriman Jagadisa Das Adhikary
11. Sriman Hayagriva Das Adhikary
12. Sriman Kṛṣṇadas Adhikary

The letter outlined the following purposes of the commission: 1) improving the standard of temple management, 2) the spread of Krishna consciousness, 3) the distribution of books and literature, 4) the opening of new centers, 5) the education of the devotees. GBC has since grown in size to include 48 senior members from the movement who make decisions based on consensus of opinion rather than any one person having ultimate authority.^[29][32] It has continued to manage affairs since Prabhupada's passing in 1977 although it is currently a self-elected organization and does not follow the provision where Srila Prabhupada instructs that members be elected by temple presidents.

Influential leaders since 1977[link]

See also: Principal disciples of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami.

Before his death, Prabhupada "deputed"^[33] or appointed the following eleven of his disciples to serve as gurus^[34][35] or to continue to direct the organization:^[36] Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami,^[37][38] Jayapataka Swami,^[39] Hridayananda Dasa Goswami, Tamal Krishna Goswami,^[40] Bhavananda Goswami, Hansadutta Swami, Ramesvara Swami, Harikesa Swami, Bhagavan Dasa, Kirtanananda Swami, and Jayatirtha Dasa. These eleven "Western Gurus were selected as spiritual heads" of the ISKCON after 1977, however "many problems followed from their appointment and the movement had since veered away from investing absolute authority in a few, fallible, human teachers",^[41] however of these eleven, the first three have remained prominent leaders within the movement, as was Tamal Krishna Goswami until his death in a car accident in March 2002. Bhavananda no longer holds the post of an initiating guru. Ramesvara, Bhagavan and Harikesa resigned as spiritual leaders in 1985, 1987 and 1999 respectively and the remaining three were all expelled from the movement by the Governing Body Commission during the 1980s.^{[42][not in citation given]} Of Prabhupada's disciples, who number 4,734 in total,^[43] approximately 70 are now acting as diksha gurus within ISKCON. As of April 2011, ISKCON had a total of 100 sannyasis, most of whom were acting as gurus (see List of International Society for Krishna Consciousness sannyasis).

Internal problems and controversy[link]

In the years following Bhaktivedanta Swami's death in November 1977, a number of theological controversies arose:^[44]

Origin of the soul[link]

Bhaktivedanta Swami explained that the soul falls from the spiritual world to this material world and that the supreme objective of the human life is to become Krishna-conscious to be able to return "Back to Godhead" (also the title of the official ISKCON magazine). However when translations of important Vaishnava texts began to appear that seemed at variance with these teachings^{[clarification needed]}, controversy arose.^[44][45]

Rasika-bhakti[link]

The elder sannyasi Bhaktivedanta Narayana Goswami was a disciple of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami's sannyasa guru and was long a well-wisher of ISKCON. A small group of prominent ISKCON leaders were closer to his association and Bhaktivedanta Narayana made no effort to conceal his relationship with them, which as time went on became increasingly intimate. His emphasis on gopi-bhava, the mood of Krsna's cowherd lovers, particularly disturbed his ISKCON audiences since Bhaktivedanta Swami had stressed that the path of spontaneous devotion was only for liberated souls. At the annual GBC meeting in 1993, members questioned their affiliation with Bhaktivedanta Narayana. Those involved minimised the seriousness of the relationship, though for some it had been going on for as long as five years. By the next annual meeting, the GBC forced the involved members to promise to greatly restrict further association with their new teacher. Though adhering externally, their sympathies for Bhaktivedanta Narayana's teachings were unabated. In 1995 GBC position was firm and the controversy was first on the 1995 annual meeting's agenda. A week of thorough investigation brought the implicated members in line. Asked to suggest what they might do to make amends, the leaders involved with the controversy tendered their resignations, which the GBC promptly refused. They further volunteered to refrain from initiating new disciples or visiting Vrindavana until their case could be reassessed the following year and at the March 1996 meeting GBC insisted on maintaining most of the restrictions.^[44]

While the capitulation of the GBC members previously following Bhaktivedanta Narayana has certainly demonstrated GBC solidarity it was insufficient to prevent a continued exodus of devotees who feel unable to repose full faith in the ISKCON Governing Body Commission authority.^[44]

The Guru and the Parampara[link]

ISKCON adheres to the traditional system of paramparā, or disciplic succession, in which teachings upheld by scriptures are handed down from master to disciple, generation after generation.^[46] A minority of people who express faith in Srila Prabhupada's teachings say that Srila Prabhupada, in contrast to the tradition, intended that after his physical demise he would continue to initiate disciples through ceremonial priests, called ritviks. One version of this idea is espoused by a group calling itself the ISKCON Revival Movement.^[47] ISKCON's Governing Body Commission has rejected all such ideas. ^[48]

Issues within the society[link]

ISKCON also experienced a number of significant internal problems, the majority of which occurred from the late seventies onwards, and especially within the decade following Prabhupada's death.^[49]

In 1976 a case involving allegations of "brainwashing" involving a minor named Robin George and her parents went all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States. In 1983, a California jury awarded the family more than $32 million in damages for false imprisonment and other charges, which was reduced to $485,000 in 1993.^[50][51]

Also ISKCON has been subject matter of discussion in some anti-cult movements.^[52][53][54] Indologist Klaus Klostermaier has described ISKCON as "the most genuinely Hindu of all the many Indian movements in the West",^[55] and as to its fortieth anniversary in America, as "having been successful on the basis of longevity", having "undergone changes to its goals and identity".^[56]

Stories of child abuse at the society's boarding schools in India and America began to emerge in the 1980s, with cases dating back from the mid-1970s onwards.^[57] Some of these cases later appeared in print, such as in John Hubner and Lindsay Gruson's 1988 book Monkey on a Stick. In 1998 an official publication produced by ISKCON detailed the physical, emotional, and sexual abuse of children at the society's boarding schools in both India and the U.S. during the 1970s and 1980s.^[58] Later ISKCON was sued by 95 people who had attended the schools. Facing the fiscal drain likely to ensue from this legal action, the ISKCON centers involved declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy. This allowed them to work out a settlement of US$9.5 million, meant to compensate not only the former students who had brought the suit but also any others who had undergone abuse but had not sued.^[59]

To guard against further abuses, ISKCON has established a child protection office with teams worldwide, meant to screen out actual or potential abusers, educate children and adults on child abuse, and encourage due vigilance.^[60] A petition circulating (as of July 2006) among ISKCON members calls for "zero tolerance" for past offenders.

In response to the need to establish transparency and accountability among its members, ISKCON encouraged the establishment of an ombudsman organization, ISKCON Resolve.^[61]

There have been also allegations in relation to murders and fraud linked to the ISKCON movement, with ex-member and guru Kirtanananda Swami convicted.^[62]

Rath Yatra controversy[link]

An ISKCON Rath Yatra festival in New York City, USA

ISKCON organises Rath Yatra festivals in different countries around the world, including India. Although held once annually in each location, these festivals occur on different dates throughout the summertime, which is marked difference from the Rath Yatra as held at the Jagannatha temple in Puri (where the festival originates). At this temple, the Rath Yatra festival is held once each year on a specific date in July, and complaints have recently been made regarding ISKCON's having their international festivals at significantly different times to this.^[63]

On December 20, 2007 the Puri priests held a demonstration alleging "a number of non-Hindus foreigners under the cover of ISKCON were trying to enter the temple", which is not allowed by that temple's tradition (only Hindus, whether Indian or foreigners are traditionally allowed in that temple).^[64] In two incidents, the priests drove out nine Indonesian men who were allegedly tourists with no link to Hindu beliefs. The validity of this temple policy has been questioned in the media on a number of occasions,^[65] especially since this ban was imposed by a British collector in 1805.^[66]

In popular culture[link]

The Hare Krishna mantra appears in a number of famous songs, notably those sung by The Beatles (and solo works of John Lennon, George Harrison, notably on his hit "My Sweet Lord", and Ringo Starr). There is a reference to singing kirtan of Hare Krishna mantra in The Beatles' "I Am The Walrus" (the line "Elementary penguins singing Hare Krishna"). Ringo Starr's song "It Don't Come Easy" contains the words "Hare Krishna!" and was written with the help of George Harrison. Later Paul McCartney produced a single with a picture of Krishna riding on a swan on the cover, although there was not any chanting of Krishna's names inside. Of the four Beatles members, only Harrison was actually a member of ISKCON, and after he posthumously received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2009, his son Dhani Harrison uttered the phrase "Hare Krishna" during the ceremony.^[67]. The contemporary Broadway Musical Hair also included a song (credited as "Be-In") that included the mantra.

Hüsker Dü's 1984 album Zen Arcade combines portions of the Hare Krishna mantra with the melody of The Strangeloves' "I Want Candy" in the song "Hare Krsna". In one of Aerosmith's songs off of their 1997 album, Nine Lives, whose original cover caused some controversy with Hindus, a line in the song, 'The Farm', says, "I wanna be a Hare Krishna, tattoo a dot right on my head, and the prozac is my fixer, I am the living dead". The mantra also appears in The Pretenders' Boots of Chinese Plastic.^[68] One song from 1969 by the Radha Krsna Temple, simply entitled Hare Krsna Mantra reached no. 12 in the UK music chart and appeared on the music show Top of the Pops. It also made the no.1 slot in both German and Czechoslovakian music charts. Less well-known but equally relevant to fans of pop music culture are recordings of the Hare Krishna mantra by The Fugs on their 1968 album Tenderness Junction (featuring poet Allen Ginsberg) and by Nina Hagen.^[69]

The 1980 film Airplane! features several Hare Krishnas, led by the actor David Leisure (Joe Isuzu). The 1979 The Muppet Movie has a running gag where someone always says "Have you tried Hare Krishna?" every time someone mentions that they are lost. In the 1978 movie Dawn of the Dead, a Hare Krishna zombie can be seen. In the 1981 movie Stripes, the character of Russell Ziskey played by Harold Ramis is seen dancing around and chanting 'Hare Krishna! Hare Krishna!' after having his head shaved upon entering basic training for the U.S. Army. Also, in the 2001 television series Scrubs, the character JD is seen dancing, chanting and playing the tambourine with a group of Hare Krishnas after having his head shaved to support a patient with Leukaemia.

Dev Anand in 1971 directed movie "Hare Rama Hare Krishna". Although the movie talked about the hippie culture, the movie has a famous song based on the words "Hare Rama Hare Krishna".

The Rockstar game Grand Theft Auto features groups of Hare Krishna throughout its fictional cities. The game controversially gives the player a 'GOURANGA' bonus for running over an entire procession.

In a fifth-season episode of Mad Men ("Christmas Waltz," May 20, 2012), set in December 1966, it is revealed that the character Paul Kinsey (played by Michael Gladis) has joined the Hare Krishna movement. He is depicted as having shaved his head and participates in early ISKCON meetings led by Prabhupada in New York City.

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Beck, Guy L. (Ed.) (2005). Alternative Krishnas: Regional and Vernacular Variations on a Hindu Deity. SUNY Press. ISBN 0-7914-6415-6. http://books.google.com/?id=0SJ73GHSCF8C 
• Lynne Gibson (2002). Modern World Religions: Hinduism – Pupil Book Core (Modern World Religions). Oxford (England): Heinemann Educational Publishers. ISBN 0-435-33619-3. 
• Rochford, E. Burke (2007). Hare Krishna Transformed. p. 249. ISBN 0-8147-7579-9 
• Shinn, Larry (January 1994). "The Maturation of the Hare Krishnas in America". ISKCON Communications Journal 2 (1). http://content.iskcon.com/icj/2_1/shinn.html 
• Satsvarupa, dasa Goswami (1984). Srila Prabhupada Nectar, Vol 2. Philadelphia: GN Press, Inc. ISBN 0-911233-23-7 
• Rosen, Steven J. (1992). Vaisnavism: Contemporary Scholars Discuss the Gaudiya Tradition. New York: Folk Books. ISBN 0-9619763-6-5 
• Klostermaier, Klaus (1998). A Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Oxford: Oneworld Publications. ISBN 1-85168-175-2 
• Sharma, Arvind (1996). Hinduism for Our Times. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-563749-6 
• Klostermaier, Klaus K. (2000). Hinduism: A Short History. Oxford: Oneworld Publications. ISBN 1-85168-213-9 

External links[link]

• ISKCON News
• Krishna.com
• ISKCON Desire tree
• Online Hare Krishna books in English and other languages
• The Official Website of The Hare Krishna Movement™ Organization
• Official website of the Governing Body Commission (GBC) of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON)
• Flood, Gavin. "Hare Krishna: Hinduism, Vaisnavism, and ISKCON: Authentic Traditions or Scholarly Constructions?". http://www.icsahome.com/infoserv_articles/flood_gavin_hinduismvaisismandiskcon.htm. 

Pranab Mukherjee
Minister of Finance
Incumbent
Assumed office 24 January 2009
Prime Minister	Manmohan Singh
Preceded by	Manmohan Singh
In office 15 January 1982 – 31 December 1984
Prime Minister	Indira Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi
Preceded by	Ramaswamy Venkataraman
Succeeded by	Vishwanath Pratap Singh
Minister of External Affairs
In office 24 October 2006 – 23 May 2009
Prime Minister	Manmohan Singh
Preceded by	Manmohan Singh
Succeeded by	Somanahalli Mallaiah Krishna
In office 10 February 1995 – 16 May 1996
Prime Minister	Narasimha Rao
Preceded by	Dinesh Singh
Succeeded by	Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Minister of Defence
In office 22 May 2004 – 26 October 2006
Prime Minister	Manmohan Singh
Preceded by	George Fernandes
Succeeded by	Arackaparambil Kurien Antony
Deputy Chairperson of the Planning Commission
In office 24 June 1991 – 15 May 1996
Prime Minister	Narasimha Rao
Preceded by	Mohan Dharia
Succeeded by	Madhu Dandavate
Lok Sabha representative from Jangipur, West Bengal
In office 10 May 2004 – incumbant
Personal details
Born	(1935-12-11) 11 December 1935 (age 76) Mirati, British Raj (now India)
Political party	Indian National Congress (Before 1986; 1989–present)
Other political affiliations	Rashtriya Samajwadi Congress (1986–1989)
Spouse(s)	Suvra Mukherjee
Alma mater	University of Calcutta
Profession	Social worker Teacher Writer
Religion	Hinduism
Website	Pranab Mukherjee

Pranab Kumar Mukherjee (born 11 December 1935, Mirati; West Bengal, India) is the current Finance Minister of India^[1][2] and leader of the current 15th Lok Sabha.^[3]

Mukherjee is a senior member of the Cabinet Committees on Economic Affairs, Infrastructure, Parliamentary Affairs, Political Affairs, Prices, Security, Unique Identification Authority of India, World Trade Organization, and heads the Group of Ministers Committee on the Dabhol dispute.^[4] He is a member of the Congress Working Committee (CWC).^[5]

Early life[link]

His father Kamada Kinkar Mukherjee was a member of AICC, and West Bengal Legislative Council (1952–64), and President, District Congress Committee, Birbhum (WB).^[6] He attended the Suri Vidyasagar College, Suri (Birbhum), then affiliated with the University of Calcutta.

He holds a Master of Arts degrees in History and Political Science & has a degree in law from the University of Calcutta. He has been an advocate and a college teacher in his long public career.^{[citation needed]} In 2011 he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree by University of Wolverhampton.^[7]

Professional career[link]

Mukherjee began his career as a college-teacher and later as a journalist. He worked for noted Bengali publication Desher Dak (Call of Motherland). He also became trustee of Bangiya Sahitya Parishad and later President of Nikhil Bharat Banga Sahitya Sammelan.^[8]

Political career[link]

He has a parliamentary career of over four decades, which began as a member of Rajya Sabha (upper house) from the Congress Party in 1969; he was re-elected in 1975, 1981, 1993 and 1999. In 1973, he joined the cabinet as Union Deputy Minister, Industrial Development. He rose through a series of cabinet posts to become the Finance Minister of India from 1982 to 1984.^[9] His term was noted for India not withdrawing the last billion instalment of an IMF loan. Dr. Manmohan Singh was serving Reserve Bank of India as Governor during Pranab's term as Finance Minister. He was not included in Rajiv Gandhi's cabinet after Lok Sabha election held subsequent to Indira Gandhi's assassination. He was pushed out of the Congress party for a brief period, and during this period he formed his own political party Rashtriya Samajwadi Congress, but later merged it with Congress party in 1989 after settlement with Rajiv Gandhi.^[10] His political career revived when P.V. Narasimha Rao chose to appoint him as deputy chairman of the planning commission and subsequently as a union cabinet minister. He served as External Affairs Minister for the first time from 1995 to 1996 in Rao's cabinet. In 1997 he was voted Outstanding Parliamentarian.

He was the President of the West Bengal state unit of Congress since 1985, but resigned in July 2010 due to work-load and was succeeded by Manas Bhunia. In 2004, when the Congress formed a government at the head of a coalition the new Congress Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was only a Rajya Sabha MP. So Pranab Mukherjee was made Leader of the House in the Lok Sabha when he won the Lok Sabha elections for the first time from Jangipur (Lok Sabha constituency). He also has the distinction of being a Minister for various high profile Ministries including Defence, Finance, External Affairs, Revenue, Shipping, Transport, Communication, Economic Affairs, Commerce and Industry. He also heads the Congress Parliamentary Party and the Congress Legislative Party which consists of all the Congress MPs and MLAs in the country apart from being Leader of the House in Lok Sabha, Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee President and the Union Cabinet Minister of Finance in the Council of Ministers under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the Congress-led Government. Pranab played crucial role in steering the Cabinet pre Lok Sabha elections when the Prime Minister underwent by-pass surgery by taking additional charges as chairman of the Cabinet Committee Of Political Affairs and Union Minister in Finance Ministry despite already being Union Minister of External Affairs.

International role[link]

Mukherjee and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signed the Section 123 Agreement on October 10, 2008. He has been a member of the Board of Governors of the International Monetary Fund, of the World Bank, of the Asian Development Bank, and of the African Development Bank.

In 1984, he chaired the Group of 24 attached to the IMF and World Bank. Between May and November 1995, he presided over the SAARC Council of Ministers Conference.^[11]

He was the first appointed by the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, to ease issues over the campaign initiated by Anna Hazare on day 8 of his fast, that is 23 August 2011.

Political party role[link]

Mukherjee is very well respected within the party social circles."^[12] Other media accounts describe him as having "a reputation as a number-crunching politician with a phenomenal memory and an unerring survival instinct."^[13]

After Sonia Gandhi reluctantly agreed to join politics, Mukherjee was one of her key mentors, guiding her through difficult situations with examples of how her mother-in-law, Indira Gandhi would have done things.^[14] Mukherjee's unfailing loyalty and competence have led to his closeness to Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh, and helped him gain the position of Minister of Defence when the party came to power in 2004.

He has also held the position of Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission from 1991 to 1996.

His talents were on display during the negotiations for the Patent's Amendment Bill in early 2005. The Congress was committed to passing an IP bill, but their allies in the United Progressive Alliance from the Left front had a long tradition of opposing some of the monopoly aspects of intellectual property. Pranab Mukherjee, as Defence Minister, was not formally involved but was roped in for his negotiation skills. He drew on many old alliances including the CPI-M leader Jyoti Basu, and formed new intermediary positions, which included product patent and little else. Then he had to convince his own colleagues including commerce minister Kamal Nath, at one point saying: "An imperfect legislation is better than no legislation."^[15] Finally the bill was approved on March 23, 2005.

Foreign Minister: October 2006[link]

Pranab Mukherjee with US President George W. Bush in 2008.

On 24 October 2006, he was appointed as the External Affairs Minister of India. His replacement in the Defence Ministry is A. K. Antony, a senior Congress Party politician and former Chief Minister of the southern state of Kerala.

Mukherjee was briefly considered for the post of the largely ceremonial Indian presidency. But his name was subsequently dropped after his contribution in the Union Cabinet was considered practically indispensable. Among Mukherjee's current legacy was the successful signing of the U.S.-India Civil Nuclear Agreement with the US government and then with the Nuclear Suppliers Group, allowing India to participate in civilian nuclear trade in spite of not having signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. He is also awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian honor in 2007.

Finance Minister[link]

Pranab Mukherjee, Finance Minister of India addressing the delagates at Regional Conference of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India

Pranab Mukherjee's first stint as the Finance minister of India was during the Indira Gandhi government in 1982. He presented his first annual budget in 1982-83. In the second government of Manmohan Singh, he again became the Finance Minister of India, a job he had held earlier, in the 1980s. On July 6, 2009, he presented the government's annual budget. In it, he announced many tax reforms, such as the scrapping of the 'irritant' Fringe Benefits Tax and the Commodities Transaction Tax. He announced, that the Finance Ministry, was well on track, to implement the Goods and Services Tax, a tax, that has been praised by major corporate executives, and economists. He also expanded funding for social sector schemes, like the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, girl's literacy, and health care. Also, he expanded infrastructure programmes, like the National Highway Development Programme, expansion of electricity coverage, and the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. However, many people, expressed concern, about the rising fiscal deficit, the highest since 1991. Mukherjee said, that the expansion in government spending was only temporary, and he said that the government, was committed to the principle of fiscal prudence. He presented the 2009 Union budget of India as well as 2010 Union budget of India and the 2011 budget.

The 2010-11 budget includes the country's first explicit target to cut public debt as a proportion of GDP and he is targeting a budget deficit reduction to 4.1% of GDP in fiscal year 2012-13, from 6.5% in 2008-09.^[16]

Contender for President[link]

After his unsatisfied wish to become the Prime Minister of India,^[17] Pranab Mukherjee is considered as an eligible candidate for the President of India.^[18] The elections are happening in July 2012 after the five-states scheduled elections. The current Vice-President of India Hamid Ansari along with Pranab Mukherjee are the top 2 contenders of Presidential candidate.^[19]

Views and opinions[link]

On corruption[link]

In an interview to rediff.com in 1998, he was asked about the sleaze in the Congress government, in which he was the Minister for External Affairs. He replied:

Corruption is an issue. We have dealt with it in the manifesto. But I am sorry to say that these scams are not confined to the Congress or the Congress government alone. There are so many scams. So many leaders of various political parties are involved in them. So it would be too simplistic to say that the Congress government was involved in scams.^[20]

Controversies, allegations and accusations[link]

Mukherjee was a Minister in Indira Gandhi's Cabinet during the infamous Emergency and was held by many to be personally responsible for some of the excesses.^[21] He was summoned before the Shah Commission but followed Mrs. Gandhi's lead in refusing to resign before it. A police case was registered against him which was withdrawn when Mrs. Gandhi returned to power.

S. Gurumurthy and Arun Shourie exposed how Pranab Mukerjee, the then Finance Minister of India helped Reliance Industries against Bombay Dyeing through differential taxation by influencing the Income Tax Department in textile industry.^[22] As a result Bombay Dyeing was almost decimated.^[22]

Mukherjee was involved in handling Taslima Nasreen's house arrest in Delhi, as the Foreign Minister. Dealing with a situation involving her expulsion for Kolkata, anger from Islamic radicals, and her protection in a safehouse, Mukherjee received criticism for actions leading to Nasreen's eventual departure from India in March 2008.^[23]

He has also been accused of threatening banks if they invest in Gujarat by sending the Income Tax Department sleuths after them, a state governed by the Bharatiya Janata Party^[24]

Personal life[link]

Pranab Mukherjee married Suvra Mukherjee on July 13, 1957 and has two sons, Abhijit and Indrajit and a daughter. He is inspired by Deng Xiaoping & has quoted him quite frequently.^[25] His hobbies are reading, gardening and music.^[26]

Honours, awards and international recognition[link]

In 1984, he was rated as the best Finance Minister of the World according to a survey of Euromoney magazine.^[27][28] In 2010 he was awarded "Finance Minister of the Year for Asia" by Emerging Markets, the daily newspaper of record for the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).^[29] In December 2010 The Banker recognised him as "Finance Minister of the Year" after making significant inroads into budget deficit reduction, throughout a turbulent year.^[16]

References[link]