Hindu group’s promotional video on Gita recital features late President Pranab Mukherjee

Kolkata, Nov 22 (PTI) A Hindu group, which is organising a Gita recitation congregation in Kolkata on December 7 has released a promotional video that featured the late Congress stalwart and President Pranab Mukherjee.

In the video, Mukherjee is seen appearing at an RSS platform in Nagpur seven years back. He had gone there in June 2018.

Swami Nirgunananda Brahmachari of Rishra math, one of the organisers of the December 7 event, told PTI that the video clip was uploaded by the 'Vishwa Samvad Kendra, South Bengal', the RSS's communication wing.

"Apart from his other identities as a seasoned politician, minister and President, Mukherjee was a devout Hindu who knew the shlokas by heart and would personally conduct the Durga Puja at his Birbhum residence every year.

“He was a deeply religious person and a friend of the RSS. His visit to the Nagpur event in 2018 bore testimony to that," Brahmachari said.

The collective Gita recitation event at Brigade Parade Ground is organised by the 'Sanatan Sanskriti Sansad', a group with Hindu spiritual heads at the helm.

Messages and photos of Hindu stalwarts like Mahatma Gandhi and Bal Gangadhar Tilak will also be displayed at the venue, Brahmachari said.

Biplab Ray, the prachar pramukh of RSS South Bengal zone, said, "Pranab Mukherjee was one of the most respected citizens of Bengal and the country. The aim is simply to show what the appeal of the Mahabharata and the Gita." Mukherjee died in New Delhi in 2020. PTI SUS NN