Punjab CM shocked over Saheb Singh's sudden death

Chandigarh, June 30 (UNI) Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today expressed shock and sorrow at the untimely death of former Chief Minister of Delhi Saheb Singh Verma in an accident in Rajasthan today.

In a message issued here, the Chief Minister said the death of the former Delhi CM was ''a personnel loss to him''. Mr Badal was a close friend of Verma, who incidentally was appointed in charge of BJP affairs in Punjab in May this year.

Mr Badal described Verma as a ''humble human being, who was rooted to the soil of this land''. He said the late BJP leader always stood by the poor and the downtrodden.

Verma had attended the last meeting of the SAD-BJP Coordination Committe, which was chaired by Mr Badal. The Committee was set up to coordinate the functioning of the Punjab government.

Mr Badal recalled that after the Coordination Committee meeting, he and Verma discussed a number of issues pertaining to the problems of the rural areas. It was on ths suggestion of Verma, that Mr Badal announced that people residing within the 'Lal Doora' of all villages in Punjab would be given property rights of their houses or 'havelis'.

Later, Mr Badal attended a condolence meeting of the Punjab BJP unit called at his residece to mourn the death of Verma. Punjab BJP chief Rajinder Bhandari, party MP Navjot Singh Sidhu, Minister Manoranjan Kalia, Tikshan Sood and Swarna Ram too condoled his death.

Mr Badal is likely to attend the cremation of Verma at New Delhi tomorrow. SAD acting president Sukhbir Singh Badal also condoled Verma's death.

UNI