Hotelier Lalit Suri cremated

New Delhi, Oct 12: The mortal remains of Rajya Sabha member and hotelier Lalit Suri were cremated at Nigambodh Ghat here today.

Mr Suri had died in London on October 10 following a heart attack.

Former Deputy Prime Minister and senior BJP leader L K Advani, industrialist Anil Ambani, his wife Tina, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, his sister Priyanka Gandhi and brother-in-law Robert Vadra, superstar Amitabh Bachchan, his wife and MP Jaya Bachchan, Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh and US-based hotel magnate Sant Singh Chatwal were prominent among those present.

Suri's son Keshav lit the pyre.

The 59-year-old Chairman and Managing Director of the Bharat Hotels had complained of chest pain on October 10 and was taken to the London University Hospital but he died on the way. He had attended a reception in Loondoan a night before which was hosted by the Indian community in honour of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

His body was brought to Delhi and kept at his residence in Panchsheel area in South Delhi were employees, captains of the industry and politicians, besides family and friends paid their last respects.

Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley were among those who visited to pay floral tributes.

Suri, who was also owner of Delhi Midday newspaper, is survived by his wife Jyotsna and four children.

Born on April 15, 1947 in Rawalpindi (Pakistan), Suri was elected to the Rajya Sabha as an Independent from Uttar Pradesh in 2002.

He joined the family-run Delhi Automobile Ltd in 1971 and struck gold when the group diversified into hospitality business in 1982 with Suri as its Joint Managing Director.

Suri commissioned his first hotel in the capital in 1988 and went on to become one of the prominent hoteliers with a network of hotels across the country including the flagship InterContinental The Grand in Delhi, and Grand hotels at Mumbai, Bangalore, Goa, Udaipur and Khajuraho.

An alumunus of Sri Ram College of Commerce, New Delhi, Suri also won a number of prestigious awards and had been responsible for pushing a number of policy recommendations on the tourism sector.

UNI