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Saturday, Aug 11, 2007
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Tributes to Chandra Shekhar

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Both Houses of Parliament adjourned on the opening day of the monsoon session on Friday after paying tributes to the former Prime Minister, Chandra Shekhar, who died last month. The Lok Sabha also mourned the passing away of another sitting member, Ajit Kumar Singh, besides five former members.

A long-standing member of Parliament – eight terms in the Lok Sabha and three in the Rajya Sabha – Chandra Shekhar was remembered by Speaker Somnath Chatterjee as “an authentic voice of a conscientious leader” whose presence and interventions in Parliament during periods of turmoil had quite often helped restore calm.

In a detailed obituary reference, Mr. Chatterjee said the former Prime Minister was a “man of strong convictions” who took a principled and uncompromising stand on basic policies.

Stating that the passing away of Chandra Shekhar marked the end of an “eventful era in the political history of the country,” the Speaker said: “His life is a saga of courage. A socialist to the core, he was a true secular nationalist and was an icon of the youth. He learnt and practised politics in an era when ideals were sacrosanct.”

The Lok Sabha also mourned the death of five former members — Sahib Singh Verma, Krishna Chandra Halder, Chandrajeet Yadav, T. Nagaratnam and Bharat Singh Chowhan.

In the Rajya Sabha, Deputy Chairman K. Rehman Khan recounted Chandra Shekhar’s “distinguished” legislative career, which began with this House, and he represented Uttar Pradesh three times. Because of his exemplary performance in Parliament, Chandra Shekhar was awarded the Best Parliamentarian award in 1995.

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