New Delhi, Feb 17 : Bharatiya Janata Party senior leader and prime ministerial candidate Lal Krishna Advani on Tuesday generously praised Union External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and wondered what the UPA Government would have done without him.

"I cannot forget a leader like Pranab Mukherjee. He is senior to me in parliament. I got elected to Rajya Sabha in 1970, whereas he entered a year earlier in 1969. I sometimes think that what would United Progressive Alliance (UPA) do if Mukherjee would not have been there. He is always there to bail the government from a difficult situation. He presented budget 25 years earlier, yesterday again he unveiled the budget. It was a difficult situation. Though I might have differences, but ever since I have known him in the Rajya Sabha, I have been admirer of his capabilities," Advani said.

Several members of the UPA, including Mukherjee, were amused to hear Advani praising.

Besides being a Union External Affairs Minister, Mukherjee is acting Union Finance Minister and is standing in for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is recovering after a bypass surgery. (ANI)