Leaders condole Mahajan's death

Thiruvananthapuram, May 3 (UNI) Various political leaders including Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, Bharatiya Janata Party state president P S Sreedharan Pillai, Pradesh Congress Committee president Ramesh Chennithala today condoled the death of BJP leader Pramod Mahajan, who died at a hospital in Mumbai this afternoon.

Mr Chandy who was told about Mahajan's death while attending a press conference expressed his condolences.

Mr Pillai condoling the death said ''Mahajan was not only a politician but also a statesman.'' He was a man of great vision and new ideas, he said and added Mahajan had always shown interest in the party's growth in the state.

Former minister and BJP leader O Rajagopal said Mahajan was known to him from the days the departed leader was the Yuva Morcha president. ''When Mahajan was the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, I was the Minister of State in the Parliamentary Affairs Ministry. We had cordial relations and discussed many things together,'' he said.

Mr Rajagopal said though Mahajan was a BJP leader, he had very good personal relations with leaders from other political parties.

''He was really a practical man,'' he added.

Mr Chennithala said Mahajan was a charismatic leader who had great vision. He also said that with Mahajan's death he had lost a true friend.

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