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H.K.L. Bhagat cremated

Staff Reporter

Leaders cutting across party lines pay their respects

NEW DELHI: The mortal remains of the Congress leader, H.K.L. Bhagat, who passed away in the Capital on Saturday after a prolonged illness, were consigned to flames at the Nigambodh Ghat here on Sunday in the presence of a large number of party workers and leaders.

Earlier in the day, the body was kept at the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee office for an hour from 9 a.m. for the party workers and leaders to pay their respect to the departed soul. While Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, and DPCC president, Ram Babu Sharma, offered floral tributes at the party office, the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, visited Mr Bhagat's house at East Nizamuddin to pay her last respects to the former Union Minister.

During the day, Mr Bhagat was fondly remembers as not only as president of DPCC for three terms but also a prominent leader who had played a vital role in strengthening the party's hold in Delhi and the development of the Capital city.

Other prominent leaders who paid their last respects to the departed leader at DPCC premises and Nigambodh Ghat were political secretary to Congress president, Ahmed Patel, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, Union Minister Oscar Fernandes, former Union Minister R.K. Dhawan, Members of Parliament, Jagdish Tytler, Sajjan Kumar, Krishna Tirath and R.K. Anand.

A number of prominent Delhi Congress leaders also paid their homage to Mr Bhagat. They included Delhi Assembly Speaker, Prem Singh, Delhi Minister, A.K. Walia, Arvinder Singh Lovely, Haroon Yusuf, Yoganand Shastri, Mangat Ram Singhal, and DPCC vice-president, Bansi Lal Mehta.

A number of senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders also went to the DPCC office to pay their respects to the veteran Delhi politician. These senior BJP leaders included Delhi BJP president, Harsh Vardhan, former Delhi Chief Minister, Madan Lal Khurana, and former Member of Parliament, Lal Behari Tiwari.

It was at 10-30 a.m. that the flower bedecked cortege carrying the mortal remains of Mr Bhagat rolled out of the DPCC office. The procession reached Nigambodh Ghat around 11 a.m. where Mr Bhagat's son, Deepak Bhagat, lit the funeral pyre.

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