NEW DELHI, June 25 (Xinhua) -- India's ruling Congress party Monday bid farewell to the country's Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee who is likely to resign from the party and the government Tuesday to contest the upcoming presidential polls.
Sources said that Congress chief Sonia Gandhi gave Mukherjee the farewell on behalf of the party as senior party leaders showered praises on the party's chief troubleshooter and one of its veteran leaders. "In his speech, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that Mukherjee would be missed by the party," the sources said.
Mukherjee has been nominated by the Congress as its presidential candidate.
"Mukherjee will file nomination for the presidential polls on June 28," Congress General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi told the media in the national capital.
In his farewell address, the finance minister thanked the party for all the cooperation and nominating him as the presidential candidate.
The presidential polls are slated on July 19.
The incumbent President Pratibha Patil's five-year tenure ends on July 25.
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