Surely we had divergent views but kept them to ourselves: President Mukherjee on working relations with PM Modi

New Delhi: President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi heaped praise on each other during a book release function at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here on Sunday.

Expressing his deep gratitude and appreciation to the prime minister, the president said, “We have acted in close cooperation, even though there have been divergent views.”

“We have been able to keep (our) divergences only to ourselves, they didn't effect (the) relation between president and prime minister,” ANI quoted him as saying.

On his part the PM said that it was his privilege to work with the President.

"I will never forget that when I came to Delhi, I had someone like Pranab Da to guide me."

"Like a father figure, Pranab Da has guided me. He would tell me, Modi ji please take adequate rest, take care of your health," PM Modi, who was in the Rashtrapati Bhavan to attend a function for the release of the book “President a Statesman”, said.

“The Presidency is much more than protocol. Through the photographs in the book, we see the human side of our President and we feel proud,” he said.

“I must also share during the Emergency I got to work with leaders and workers of very different ideologies,” PM Modi. 

The prime minister also hoped that the people are more history conscious as a society so “We can preserve aspects of our history much better.”