Union minister Ananth Kumar to be cremated with state honours today

November 13, 2018 09:09

Union Minister and senior BJP leader Ananth Kumar, who died on Monday morning at a hospital in Bengaluru, will be cremated this afternoon. Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, BJP President Amit Shah, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan are expected to attend the funeral.

"A state funeral with 21-gun salute and guard of honour will be accorded to the mortal remains of Ananth Kumar," an official said.

Ananth Kumar was suffering from lung cancer and had returned from the US last month after treatment in New York. The minister's wife Tejaswini and two daughters were with him in his last moments. His body was kept at his home in Basavanagudi for last respects.

Kumar's body will be taken to Jagannath Bhavan, the BJP's state office in Malleshwaram and from there he will be taken to the National College grounds for public homage. He will be cremated around 1 pm at the Chamrajpet crematorium, state BJP General Secretary N Ravi Kumar said.

Despite a busy Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi flew into the city from Varanasi in the evening and met Kumar's family. He offered his condolences and laid a wreath on the glass casket draped in the tricolour.

PM Modi described him as a remarkable leader, an able administrator and a great asset to the BJP. President Ram Nath Kovind termed his death as "tragic loss".

Ananth Kumar was one of the few ministers to have also served in the earlier BJP-led government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. In fact, he was the youngest minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee's cabinet in 1998 and was minister for Civil Aviation, Tourism, Sports, Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation.

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