राजनीति

PM Modi, other leaders pay homage to Parkash Singh Badal in Chandigarh; last rites at native village on Thursday

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday paid floral tributes to Parkash Singh Badal at the Shiromani Akali Dal office here as scores of people and political leaders assembled to pay homage to the five-time Punjab chief minister.

After arriving in Chandigarh, Modi reached the SAD office accompanied by Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit and Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.

The prime minister laid a wreath on the mortal remains of Badal and then sat beside SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal. Modi was seen holding the hands of Sukhbir Singh Badal, expressing grief over the passing away of the SAD chief’s father.

Modi stayed at the SAD office for a few minutes. Later in a tweet, he said, “Paid homage to Shri Parkash Singh Badal Ji.”

In the afternoon, a bedecked ambulance carrying the Akali patriarch’s mortal remains headed from here to his native village Badal in Muktsar district.

As the vehicle carrying Badal’s mortal remains headed to Muktsar, party supporters and many common people, including women, stood along both sides of the highway to catch a glimpse of their beloved leader. The party workers with moist eyes also showered petals on the ambulance.

Badal was admitted to the Fortis Hospital in Mohali on April 16 after he complained of uneasiness in breathing. He died on Tuesday aged 95.

The Punjab government and the Chandigarh administration declared a public holiday on Thursday as a mark of respect to the former chief minister. All Punjab government offices, departments, boards, corporations and educational institutions in the state will remain shut on Thursday.

The Punjab government also postponed the cabinet meeting scheduled for Thursday to Friday.

Badal’s son Sukhbir Singh Badal, with eyes welled up, was sitting with folded hands on the front seat of the ambulance, which was driven by former state minister and his brother-in-law Bikram Singh Majithia.

The procession en route to Muktsar had to move slowly at many places because of the presence of a huge number of people turning up on the road to pay their homage.

The ambulance reached village Badal at around 10 pm, covering around 270 km via Rajpura, Patiala, Sangrur, Barnala, Rampura Phul and Bathinda.

The last rites will be held at the village at 1 pm, party leaders said.

At Badal village, a huge number of villagers, including women and children, were waiting for the procession to reach.

Earlier in the day, the mortal remains of the SAD patriarch, who straddled Punjab politics for over seven decades, were brought to the party head office here in an ambulance from the Fortis Hospital in Mohali.

Badal’s nephew and BJP leader Manpreet Singh Badal could be seen teary eyed. Manpreet, who had a few years ago quit SAD to join the Congress before switching over to BJP, had broken into tears Tuesday evening at the hospital when he met Sukhbir Singh Badal after Badal’s demise.

Both Sukhbir Singh Badal and Manpreet Singh were seen beside the mortal remains of Badal at the hospital. They also hugged each other.

Grief-stricken party supporters stood in queues at the SAD party headquarters here to have a glimpse of their leader for the last time as chants of “Sardar Parkash Singh ji Badal amar rahe (Long live Parkash Singh ji Badal)” rent the air.

Former Haryana chief minister O P Chautala could be seen in tears as he paid his last respects to the SAD patriarch. The Chautalas and the Badals, the two powerful political families in Haryana and Punjab, have long-standing ties as Badal was a close friend of former deputy prime minister Chaudhary Devi Lal.

Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema, Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains, Union Minister Som Parkash, Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa, former Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, and Patiala MP Preneet Kaur who is the wife of former CM Amarinder Singh, BJP leader Sunil Jakhar, former Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani, Punjab BJP chief Ashwani Sharma also paid homage to the departed soul.

Badal’s son-in-law Adaish Partap Singh Kairon and grandson Anantvir Singh Badal were also present at the SAD head office.

Several bureaucrats, police officers, including Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav and other officials, also paid their respects.

The grand old man of Punjab politics first became chief minister in 1970, heading a coalition government that did not complete its term. He was also the CM in 1977-80, 1997-2002, 2007-12 and 2012-2017.