Parliament adjourned after paying homage to Mahajan

New Delhi, May 10: Both Houses of Parliament were today adjourned on the first day of the post-recess Budget Session, after paying homage to Pramod Mahajan.

In their obituary references, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee and Rajya Sabha Chairman Bhairon Singh Shekhawat described late BJP General Secretary Mahajan as an able Parliamentarian, an impressive orator and an effective floor manager.

As Communications Minister between 1999-2003, Mahajan was instrumental in initiating several steps for bringing the benefits of mobile telephony within the reach of the common man.

He was known for his ability to carry with him friends and opponents alike. His tenure as Parliamentary Affairs Minister will always be remembered for his competent handling of issues in the House.

Mahajan, a sitting member of the Rajya Sabha and member of the eleventh Lok Sabha, died on May 3 at the age of 57 after struggling for 12 days from gunshot wounds inflicted by his brother at his Mumbai residence.

The two Houses also mourned the death of former Haryana Chief Minister Bansi Lal, describing him as a proactive and assertive personality. An agriculturist and advocate by profession, Bansi Lal will be remembered as the architect of modern Haryana, who through his visionary policies put the State on the path to progress.

Representing Bhiwani Parliamentary constitutnecy, he was also Union Minister for Defence from 1975 to 1977, Railways from 1984 to 1985 and Transport from 1985 to 1986.

He died on March 28 at New Delhi after a brief illness at the age of 79.

Paying homage to former Union Minister A B A Ghani Khan Chowdhury in the Lower House, the Speaker described him as a highly respected political leader, actively associated with the task of rural development in West Bengal.

A sitting member, representing Malda constituency in West Bengal, Chowdhury was also a member of the seventh to thirteenth Lok Sabha from 1980 to 2004.

He was also a member of the West Bengal Assembly from 1952 to 1957 and from 1967 to 1980, and State Irrigation and Power Minister in 1971 and from 1972 to 1977.

An able administrator, Chowdhury was the Union Minister for Energy with additional charge of Coal and Irrigation from 1980 to 1982, Railways from 1982 to 1984 and Programme Implementation from 1985 to 1987.

He died on April 14 at Kolkata at the age of 79 after a brief illness.

Mahboob Zahedi, a sitting Lok Sabha member, representing Katwa constituency in West Bengal, was a political and social worker who fully devoted himself to the cause of agricultural workers.

A veteran freedom fighter, Zahedi served as an organiser in the Indian National Army of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and fought the British forces under the leadership of General Shah Nawaz Khan.

Apart from Kisan Movement, he was actively associated with literacy movement in Burdwan in West Bengal and in animal resource development.

He died on April 8 at New Delhi after a brief illness at the age of 77.

Prof Shailendra Nath Shrivastava, a member of the ninth Lok Sabha from 1989 to 1991, represented Patna constituency.

An academician, Shrivastava was professor and Head of Hindi Department, Patna University till his retirement in 1996.

Thereafter, he served as Vice Chancellor of T M B University, Bhagalpur from 1998 to 1999 and Chairman of the Bihar Inter University Board, Patna from 1999.

A litterateur, Shrivastava contributed more than 60 articles in Hindi and English and has to his credit four collections of poems.

He wrote four books in Hindi on literary criticism and also authored the biography of Jai Prakash Narayan.

A Padmashri, he died on February 12 at Patna at the age of 70.

In the Rajya Sabha, obituary references were made for Ms Sarla Bhadauria who died on March 19 at the age of 86. She hailed from Uttar Pradesh.

The House also mourned the death of Shyam Sundar Mohapatra, who hailed from Orissa.

He died on April 22 at the age of 78.

UNI