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Sharad Yadav’s Cremation To Be Performed Today
Top political leaders including Home Minister Amit Shah and Rahul Gandhi paid their last respects to socialist stalwart Sharad Yadav in his Chhatarpur residence here on Friday.
BJP president J P Nadda, Union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Piyush Goyal, Haryana chief minister M L Khattar, former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi, Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav also paid tributes to Sharad Yadav at his residence.
Yadav died at a private hospital in Gurugram on Thursday. He was 75.
His mortal remains will be taken to his native village Ankhmau in Hoshangabad district in Madhya Pradesh by a chartered plane on Saturday morning. The cremation will be performed at 1 pm on Saturday.
Shah described the demise of Sharad Yadav as an “irreparable loss” for the country. “In the last five decades, Sharad Ji raised people-centric issues and promoted socialist ideas till his last breath,” he said.
Rahul Gandhi reached Yadav’s residence around 8.30 am. The Congress leader travelled to Delhi from Punjab where the Bharat Jodo Yatra is camped currently. Talking to reporters later, he recounted a conversation with Yadav, adding that he learnt a lot from him.
The former congress president said that his grandmother Indira Gandhi and Yadav were political rivals but always maintained a relationship of mutual respect.
A delegation of Congress leaders including Shaktisinh Gohil, and Gurdeep Singh Sappal laid a wreath on behalf of former Congress president Sonia Gandhi and current president Mallikarjun Kharge. Kumari Selja, Srikant Jena, Subodh Kant Sahai were also among Congress leaders who paid their respects.
Former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi and Tejashwi Yadav also arrived at Yadav’s residence to pay her last respects. Manoj Jha and Prem Chand Gupta of the RJD, Danish Ali of the BSP and K C Tyagi of the JD-U also paid their respects.
Yadav merged his Loktrantrik Janata Dal, a party he floated in 2018, with the RJD in March 2022.
Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav called his death the “end of an era of socialist politics”.
“The death of Sharad ji is a huge loss for the socialists and those who follow this ideology. He always spoke his mind. He comes from a generation of leaders who have gone to villages and brought people together,” Akhilesh Yadav said.
Sharad Yadav is survived by his wife, a daughter and a son.
NPAC Calls For Bandh On Saturday
Nagaland People’s Action Committee (NPAC) has called for a six-hour bandh on Saturday to press for a solution to the Naga Political Issue (NPI) before the assembly elections.
The state-wide bandh has been called from 6 am to noon, coinciding with the visit of an Election Commission of India (ECI) team to the state to review preparedness for the elections to the 60-member assembly due this year.
NPAC was formed in June last year to press for an early solution to NPI.
NPAC convenor Theja Therieh on Thursday said it will observe the bandh to express resentment and convey to the ECI team that Nagas demand a solution to the issue before elections are held.
The ECI team will be in the state on Friday and Saturday.
“Are 26 years of negotiation not enough? Nobody should be taken for a ride under the garb of talks. Nagas are anxiously waiting for a solution to the issue,” he said.
Therieh appealed to people to cooperate with the committee and observe the bandh.
He claimed NPAC is supported by tribal bodies and civil society organisations to press for an early solution to NPI.
The term of the present government in Nagaland ends on March 4.
