The Hindu : A selfless worker, says Kalam

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Dec 29, 2003

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National

A selfless worker, says Kalam

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI DEC. 28. The former Bharatiya Janata Party president, Kushabhau Thakre, died here this morning after prolonged illness. He was 82. A bachelor, Mr. Thakre was suffering from cancer of the kidney.

The end came this morning at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences. The body was then brought to the central BJP office at Ashok Road.

In the afternoon, a special flight took the body to Bhopal where the funeral will be held tomorrow afternoon. The Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief, K.S. Sudershan, and a number of BJP and Sangh Parivar leaders will attend the funeral.

The Parliamentary Affairs and Health Minister, Sushma Swaraj, the Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Sumitra Mahajan, the party vice-president, Pyarelal Khandelwal, and the general secretary, Sanjay Joshi, accompanied the body from here to Bhopal where it was received by the party president, Venkaiah Naidu.

Mr. Vajpayee, the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, the former Prime Minister, Chandra Shekhar, the Defence Minister, George Fernandes, the Food Minister, Sharad Yadav, and a number of BJP Ministers and party leaders — Pramod Mahajan, Arun Jaitley, Ms. Swaraj, Ravi Shankar Prasad, V.K. Malhotra, and others — paid their last respects to Mr. Thakre at the party office here.

In a condolence message, the President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, described Mr. Thakre as a selfless worker of the party, while Mr. Vajpayee said he had devoted every moment of his life for the country's Independence and later to make the country a better place. He recalled the long years of his association with Mr. Thakre and said his life would always be a source of inspiration. Mr. Advani said he had helped to take the party ideology to every village in the country. Mr. Naidu said Mr. Thakre was totally devoted to the party ideology and the country. He called upon all party workers to follow his example of selfless dedication.

Mr. Thakre joined the RSS in 1942 and that very year became a whole-timer and a `pracharak'. He joined the Jana Sangh at its inception and became secretary, organisation in Madhya Pradesh in 1956 and president of the State unit in 1977. He was jailed for 19 months during the Emergency.

His election as party president in 1998 — a position he held for just over two years — coincided with the party coming to power at the Centre.

His task was to ensure that the role of the party did not diminish with a party-led Government at the Centre.

In a statement in Chennai, the former BJP president, Jana Krishnamurthy, said Mr. Thakre's death had left a void in the party.

His contribution in building up the organisation, especially in Madhya Pradesh, was immeasurable, he added.

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