“To compensate” for former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh, who died on Saturday evening aged 89, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday, “we must make maximum efforts towards his values and resolution, and leave no stones unturned in fulfilling his dreams.”
Mr. Modi was speaking at the residence of the former chief minister in Lucknow where he paid tributes to the senior BJP leader.
BSP chief Mayawati was among other politicians who visited the former chief minister’s residence.
Kalyan Singh, who served as CM of U.P. twice, was the head of State in 1992 when the Babri Masjid was demolished by a mob of karsevaks on December 6 following which his government was dismissed.
Mr. Modi said Singh had provided meaning to the the name given to him by his parents, Kalyan, which means welfare in Hindi. “He lived his life for jan kalyan (public welfare),” Mr. Modi told reporters here.
With Kalyan Singh’s death, the country lost a “valuable personality and a capable leader,” Mr. Modi said, adding that Singh would be admired across India.
Singh’s mortals remains were later taken to the U.P. Assembly and the BJP State headquarters for people to pay homage before being taken to his home district Aligarh. He will be cremated on Monday on the Narora ghat on the Ganga.
