Sunset at Noon

Son of the soil assimilates
with the soil
From Our Special Correspondent

BJP President Shri Rajnath Singh could not control his emotions as the body of Shri Mahajan was brought down from his residence to be placed at the gun carriage. He burst into tears. It was Shri Mahajan’s son Rahul who tried to console him with his hands on his shoulders. So did Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu. He went sentimental at the sight of his old friend and colleague being carried to the cremation ground. He was seen wiping his eyes with a handkerchief.

On May 4 Lakhs of mourners bid a tearful adieu to one of the country’s promising politicians and BJP’s master strategist Pramod Mahajan, whose mortal remains were consigned to the flames at Mumbai with full State honours in presence of a galaxy of dignitaries led by Vice-President of India, Shri Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.

Slogans like ‘Pramod Mahajan Amar Rahe’ (Long live Mahajan) and ‘Jab Tak Sooraj Chand Rahega, Mahajan Tera Naam Rahega’ rent the air as the mortal remains of the 56-year old ‘Gen Next’ leader of the BJP as his son Rahul lit the funeral pyre amidst chanting of Vedic mantras. The bugles sounded the last post and Maharashtra police personnel reversed their arms and fired in the air as a mark of respect to the leader, who died on May 3 at the Hinduja Hospital after battling death for 12 days.

Earlier, as the body of Shri Mahajan was brought from his residence, his son Rahul and BJP President Shri Rajnath Singh were among the pall-bearers and they kept the body in a flower-bedecked truck.

Rahul hugged and consoled his sister Poonam as Mahajan’s mortal remains went up in flames. Mahajan’s brother Prakash, brother-in-law Gopinath Munde and close associate Sudhanshu Mittal broke down and were comforted by party leaders and workers.

Present at the cremation grounds to pay homage to the departed soul were Vice-President Shri Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. RSS Sarsanghchalak Shri K. S. Sudershan and a shocked BJP top brass led by former Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Leader of Opposition (Lok Sabha) Shri L. K. Advani and Leader of Opposition (Rajya Sabha), Shri Jaswant Singh, BJP National President Shri Rajnath Singh were also present. The government of India was represented by Home Minister Shri Shivraj Patil.

RSS Sahsarkaryawah Shri Bhaiyyaji Joshi, Shri Suresh Soni and Shri Madan Dass Devi were also present.

Congress Party was represented by Shri Motilal Vora. Union Ministers Shri Sharad Pawar and Shri Praful Patel, VHP firebrand leader Shri Praveen Togadia, NDA Convener Shri George Fernandes, Maharashtra Chief Minister Shri Vilasrao Deshmukh, Bihar Chief Minister Shri Nitish Kumar and Chief Ministers of all BJP-ruled states including Gujarat’s Narendra Modi, Rajasthan CM Smt. Vasundhara Raje, Chhattisgarh CM Dr. Raman Singh, Jharkhand CM Shri Arjun Munda, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Shri Sushil Modi, Najma Heptullah, and Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray were present, reflecting the late leader’s popularity across the country’s political spectrum.

A wreath on behalf of President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam was placed on the casket containing Shri Mahajan’s body. Other leaders too offered floral tributes.

Shri Mahajan’s body was brought to the cremation grounds in a funeral procession which wound its way through the streets of Mumbai from his Worli residence, where he was shot at and injured on April 22.

Relatives, senior politicians cutting across party lines and people from all walks of life made a beeline to his home where the body was brought this morning.

Senior BJP leader Shri L. K. Advani and his family were among the first to pay tributes, followed by RSS chief Shri K S Sudarshan, BJP president Shri Rajnath Singh, Maharashtra Chief Minister Shri Vilasrao Deshmukh and his son.

The other senior leaders and Shri Mahajan’s party colleagues, who paid homage, included Shri Jaswant Singh, Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi, Smt. Sushma Swaraj, Shri Arun Jaitley, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu, Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Prof. Vijay Kumar Malhotra, Shri Sahib Singh Verma, Smt. Najma Heptullah, besides VHP leader Shri Praveen Togadia, and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Shri Raj Thackeray.

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Union Minister for Communications and IT Shri Dayanidhi Maran and NDA Convener George Fernandes also paid their last respects.

Industrialists Shri Anil Ambani, Shri Naresh Goyal, media baron and Rajya Sabha MP Shri Vijay Darda, Lok Sabha MP Shri Haren Pathak, Bollywood personalities Smt. Hema Malini, MP, Smt. Poonam Dhillon, Madhur Bhandarkar, Ashok Pandit, Janmorcha President Shri Raj Babbar were among the people who paid homage to the departed leader.