NEW DELHI, India. - Pranab Mukherjee, India's finance minister has resigned from the post Tuesday so that he can run as the presidential candidate for United Progressive Alliance.
"I feel honored and humbled on my nomination as a presidential candidate of the UPA-II, supported by SP, BSP, JDU Shiv Sena, CPI-M, Forward Bloc and some other parties...Yet, standing on the brink of such an honor, I will also feel a pinch of sentiments at the thought of leaving behind my life as a political activist, spanning over four decades," Mukherjee told Zee TV, an Indian news organization.
The presidential elections are set to take place on July 19th. If elected, Mukherjee would replace the current president Pratibha Patil.
Mukherjee's resignation comes at the height of a national economic crisis. The Indian economy has been infested with a number of hurdles including high inflation, slashed industrial growth and the devaluation of the rupee.
With the absence of a finance minister, people of the country are anxious to know who will replace him. Current Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is rumored to fill that position. President Singh served as India's finance minister in the 1990s and can be credited to a large extent for opening up the markets and initiate the country's rapid economic boom.
On the possibility of returning back to the Finance Ministry, Prime Minister Singh, "I have been churning it in my mind. Quite honestly I have a number of issues which I have to resolve. It will not be proper for me to announce while I am outside the country. When the decision is taken, you will get to know about it," said to Zee TV.
