As officials and staff of the Finance Ministry gear up to present Union Budget 2025 on Saturday, February 1, here are India`s longest-serving Finance Ministers, including those who never got an opportunity to present the Budget (Pics/ Midday file, X)

Pranab Mukherjee - a former President, the man who missed becoming the Prime Minister of India by a whisker, the Congress party`s trouble-shooter during the UPA rule and the unlikely Congressman with proximity to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On his birthday, we look back at his illustrious career. Pics/AFP