Delhi bids adieu to former CM Khurana

New Delhi: Former Delhi chief minister Madan Lal Khurana's mortal remains were consigned to the flames on Sunday evening, with several top politicians paying homage to the veteran BJP leader.

The Delhi government, as mark of respect, has declared a two-day state-mourning following his death.

Khurana (82) is survived by his wife, a son and two daughters. One of his sons had died last month.

A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) veteran, Khurana was the chief minister of Delhi from 1993 to 1996 and was appointed the governor of Rajasthan in 2004. His son, Harish Khurana, said his father breathed his last at his Kirti Nagar residence around 11 pm Saturday.

Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal paid tributes to Khurana.

Union ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad, Harsh Vardhan, Kalraj Mishra and Vijay Goel, and Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari also paid their respects to former chief minister.

Later, the last journey of Khurana was carried out from the Delhi BJP office to Nigambodh Ghat where last rites were performed in the evening.

Early in the day, President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were among those who expressed grief on the demise of Khurana.

"Sad to hear of the passing of Shri Madan Lal Khurana. As Chief Minister of Delhi, Governor of Rajasthan and Union Minister, he contributed immensely to public life and particularly to the well-being of the national capital and its people (sic)," Kovind said in a tweet.

Vice-President Naidu also condoled the death of Khurana. "Deeply saddened by demise of former Chief Minister of Delhi, Shri Madan Lal Khurana. He will be remembered for his immense contribution for growth & development of Delhi.

"My heartfelt condolences to his bereaved family members and pray for his soul rest in peace. #MadanLalKhurana," he tweeted. Modi said Khurana worked tirelessly for the progress of Delhi.

"Anguished by the passing away of Shri Madan Lal Khurana Ji. He worked tirelessly for the progress of Delhi, particularly towards ensuring better infrastructure.

He distinguished himself as a hardworking and people-friendly administrator, both in the Delhi government and Centre," the prime minister tweeted.

In another tweet, he said, "Shri Madan Lal Khurana Ji will always be remembered for the manner in which he strengthened the BJP in Delhi. He made unwavering efforts towards serving the post-partition refugees in Delhi.

My thoughts and solidarity with his family and supporters. Learnt of the unfortunate demise of former Delhi chief minister and BJP leader Madan Lal Khurana.

He will be remembered as an ideal swayamsevak and a dedicated Vidyarthi Parishad worker and a strong pillar of the Jan Sangh and the BJP," BJP chief Amit Shah tweeted in Hindi.

Lt Governor Anil Baijal and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also expressed grief on Khurana's death. In a tweet, Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan said,

"Deeply pained to hear about the demise of Former Chief Minister of Delhi and veteran leader Madan Lal Khurana ji. My condolences to the bereaved family and prayers for the departed soul."

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman too condoled the demise of the former Delhi chief minister. "Condolences on the passing away of Shri. Madanlal Khurana, former CM of Delhi.

May God give strength to his family, @HarishKhuranna and all party workers to bear with this loss," she tweeted.