Gopaldas ‘Neeraj’ predicted friend Vajpayee’s death; Some more luminaries who died within a month

New Delhi, Aug 17: Bharat Ratna former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was given a bid adieu by the nation but in the past one month several luminaries of the country have died who had excelled in their respective field of work.

All it started with the demise of poet and lyricist Gopaldas Neeraj a friend of Vajpayee who had even predicted his death, then M Karunanidhi the former chief minister of Tamil Nadu and now former Prime minister Vajpayee. They all excelled at their peak of the career but were living a retired life.

The famous Hindi poet and lyricist Gopaldas 'Neeraj died on July 19, 2018. The famous lyricist was a good friend and classmate of former Prime Minister Vajpayee. He used to write under the pen name "Neeraj". A Padma Bhushan awarded poet was an astrologer who had predicted death of Vajpayee within a months of his own death that proved to be correct. People close to him confirmed it. He was a Professor of Hindi Literature in Dharma Samaj College, Aligarh. He wrote songs for several Hindi Movies and attained a unique position as a songwriter who wrote both in Hindi and Urdu.

Former chief minister of Tamil Nadu M Karunanidhi had died on August 7, 2018. He was the pioneer of Dravidian politics and ousted the Congress from Tamil Nadu. Karunanidhi ruled the state for almost two decades over five terms between 1969 and 2011.

A long-standing leader and ten-time president of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) who entered into politics from cinema. He is remembered by people of the state for his good grasp over Tamil literature. He made contributions to Tamil literature by writing stories, plays, novels, and a multiple-volume memoir.

Former Lok Sabha Speaker Somanath Chatterjee died on August 13, 2018 after cardiac arrest. He too was into political oblivion before entering into the Lok Sabha for ten times and serving as the Speaker of the lower house.

Chatterjee was expelled from the party after he refused to toe the party line on the issue of nuclear deal with the US by saying that as a Speaker he is suppose to remain impartial to perform his responsibility. He did not compromised with his political integrity.

Former captain of Indian cricket team Ajit Wadekar died on August 15, 2018. He became the first Indian captain to achieve overseas wins while touring the West Indies and England in 1971. India won over five matches in the West Indies in the early 1970s, and then defeated England over three. He led India to a third successive series victory, beating England cricket team again, 2-1 in a five-match series in 1972-73.

Described as an 'aggressive batsman', Wadekar made his first-class debut in 1958, before making his foray into international cricket in 1966 and was considered to be one of the finest slip fielders.