President Pranab Mukherjee host dinner to mark 3 years in office

NEW DELHI: Parliamentarians, who have been slugging it out for past the few days in Lok Sabha over several issues, were seen mixing freely at a dinner hosted by President Pranab Mukherjee tonight to commemorate three years of his presidency.

Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad was seated opposite External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj at the head table and the two were seen exchanging jokes during the dinner.

Parliament has been non-functional for last few days with Congress pressing for Swaraj's resignation over the Lalit Modi row.

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi was seated opposite TMC leader Derek O Brien and Union Minister Harsh Vardhan along with CPI leader D Raja where a few smiles were exchanged.

Mukherjee was seated along with Vice President Hamid Ansari, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP patriarch L K Advani and Congress President Sonia Gandhi.

Ahead of the dinner, the Vice President and the Home Minister released four books -- two volumes of Mukherjee's selected speeches, 'Abode under the Dome' and 'Right of the Line: The President's Bodyguard (1773-2015)'.

Later in their brief speeches, Ansari complimented the President for completion of three years and said he continues to enlighten the vision of the people in the country.

The Home Minister complimented the President on behalf of the Government and said Mukherjee has done public service with distinction.

The two volumes of selected speeches of President Mukherjee contain important speeches delivered by him since assumption of office on July 25, 2012 as the 13th President.

The first volume includes 52 speeches and is divided into five sections--The Nation, Parliament and state legislatures, judiciary and constitutional bodies, armed forces and eminent personalities and commemorative events.

The second volume contains 102 speeches and is divided into three sections-- education, banquet speeches and foreign visits.

The book 'Right of the Line: The President's Bodyguard (1773-2015)' is being published in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture and Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts.

Another book 'Abode under the Dome' is part of a series of books aimed at documenting the rich legacy of Rashtrapati Bhavan to make the public informed about its historicity and contribution to India's democratic fabric.

After the book release, Padam Shri awardee Shekhar Sen presented a 90-minute mono act depicting exciting life story of well known reformist, poet and philosopher "Kabeer" with song sequences having popular and rare ragas.