Bihar BJP mourns Mahajan's death

Patna, May 14: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today upheld Pramod Mahajan's understanding and regard for 'coalition dharma' at an all party condolence meeting organised by the BJP to mourn the death of the departed leader.

Mr Kumar said that Mahajan's death was not a loss for BJP or the NDA alone but it was a loss for the national politics itself.

He said Mahajan had maintained a cordial relationship even with his arch rivals and had huge potential for rising further. The Chief Minister regretted the fact that that the life of someone who could contribute so much to the country was cut short.

Earlier, a casket containing ashes of mortal remains of Mahajan was brought to Patna by BJP leaders Sayed Shahnabaz Hussain, Rajeev Pratap Rudy and Ravi Shanker Prasad from Mumbai and after conclusion of the condolence meeting, the ashes were immersed at Gandhi Ghat on the Ganga.

BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley said that Mr Mahajan used to execute only well thought out programmes as he never acted in a hurry. He said that his thoughts were also not 'routine' in nature as he was an original thinker. He said that Mr Mahajan also possessed a very strong common sense recalling how the BJP leader used to accept collective decisions despite having a variant view.

Mr Jaitley recalled how Mr Mahajan emphasised on the need for naming Nitish Kumar as chief ministerial candidate when the February Assembly election was in mid way in Bihar.

Deputy Bihar Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, former union ministers and BJP leaders C.P. Thakur, Sayed Shahanbaz Hussain, Ravi Shanker Prasad, Rajeev Pratap Rudy, senior BJP leader and state minister Nand Kishore Yadav, state JD (U) Secretary General Upendra Kushwaha, RJD MP Ram Kripal Yadav, state CPI Secetary Badri Narain Lal, NCP leader Ajay Singh representing senior party leaders Tarique Anwar and Akil Haider and RSS Sanghchalak Arvind Thakur, state BJP president Radha Mohan Singh also spoke on this occasion.

UNI