Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Pranab Mukherjee at a book release event in Rashtrapati Bhavan on Sunday. Modi said there was never a meeting between them in the past three years when the President did not treat him like a son. 

“I am saying this from deep within. Like a father caring for his son...,” Modi said, turning emotional. 

‘“Modiji, you will have to rest for half day’, Pranabda would say. ‘Why are you running around so much? You must cut down on your programmes. You will have to take care of your health’.

“It was during the UP polls that he told me that win and loss happen all the time but ‘will you take care of your body or not?’ It was not part of his responsibilities as the President but it was the humane person inside him which cared for a friend.”

Mukherjee, who had on Saturday spoken out against vigilantism, expressed his “deep gratitude and appreciation” for Modi, saying there has been divergence of views but the two kept those to themselves and acted in close cooperation.