Mukherjee pays homage to leaders before taking oath as Prez

President elect Pranab Mukherjee today paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi and other top leaders at their memorials here before heading to Rashtrapati Bhawan to take oath as the 13th President of India.

Travelling in a Mercedes Benz S 600, Mukherjee first visited Rajghat to pay homage to the Father of the Nation. After paying homage to Mahatma Gandhi, he paid respect to Rajiv Gandhi at Veer Bhumi.

Dressed in a black sherwani with white churidar, Mukherjee also paid homage to former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi at her memorial Shakti Sthal. Later he went to the memorial of Lal Bahadur Shastri. He was accompanied by Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath. Chief Justice of India S H Kapadia will administer the oath of office to Mukherjee in the Central Hall of Parliament at 11:30 AM in the presence of vice-president Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Union Ministers, Governors and chief ministers.

Mukherjee's key aide Pradyut Guha said, "The President elect was very happy, calm and quiet as he left for the oath taking ceremony. He is going to take up a new assignment". Talking about his attire, Goha said, "Mukherjee wore a new type of dress. He was wearing choga and achkan".