Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar was cremated with full military honours and a gun salute on Miramar beach in Panaji on Monday. Parrikar died of pancreatic cancer on Sunday.
A host of BJP leaders like Amit Shah, Union minister Suresh Prabhu, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis attended the funeral of Parrikar, who was draped in the national flag.
Shah remembered Parrikar as a principled leader. “… we have lost a nationalist, who led a simple life,’’ he said. He called Parrikar a disciplined and a good administrator. He said the vacuum Parrikar has left in Indian public life will take a long time to fill.
Parrikar’s elder son, Utpal, lit his funeral pyre in presence of the deceased leader’s brother, Avdhoot, and his younger son, Abhijat.
Parrikar’s funeral procession passed through Panaji’s main Dayanand Bandodkar Marg as people lined the two-kilometre route to pay their last respects.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid his last respects to Parrikar and met his family.
Throughout the day, people thronged Panjim’s Kala Academy, where Parrikar’s body was kept since morning.
The Union Cabinet condoled Parrikar’s demise and observed a two-minute silence in his memory. It also approved the government of India’s one-day mourning and said the national flag will fly at half-mast on Monday in all the state capitals, Delhi and throughout Goa.
“In his passing away, the country has lost a veteran and distinguished leader, affectionately called as the Chief Minister of commoners,” a cabinet resolution said.
Parrikar was diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer in February last year and was repeatedly admitted to hospitals in Goa, Mumbai, New Delhi and New York.
First Published:
Mar 19, 2019 00:08 IST
Source: HindustanTimes