Jaitley praises Pranab

In a show of bonhomie, the Leader of the Oppostion Arun Jaitley today showered lavish praises on senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee saying he is like a "professor" in Parliament and it was "dual honour" for him to be clubbed with Mukherjee for an award.

In a show of bonhomie, the Leader of the Oppostion Arun Jaitley on Thursday showered lavish praises on senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee saying he is like a "professor" in Parliament and it was "dual honour" for him to be clubbed with Mukherjee for an award.

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"In Parliament, whether he (Mukherjee)has been in opposition or government, he is almost like a professor himself, who knows India's politics, India's Parliament, who knows the country and its governance almost like the back of his hand", Jaitley said at a function where he received an honorary degree by a leading British University from its Chancellor and NRI Industrialist Lord Swraj Paul.

Jaitley said Mukherjee "can spell out events from the past from his memory and therefore for me to be clubbed with him is almost like a dual honour and privillege which is being conferred on me".

The BJP leader was speaking at a function in which he and Mukherjee were conferred with the degree of 'Doctor of Letters' by Wolverhampton University, the highest award a UK university can bestow.

Jaitley also gave a call for restoring "credibility" to politics in the country, which he said "at times get eroded".

Thanking the Wolverhampton University for chosing a senior minister and an opposition leader together from India for conferring the degrees, he said it reflected the maturity of Indian democracy.