Former Union minister and former national president of the Janta Dal-United(JD-U), Sharad Yadav was cremated with full state honours at his ancestral village Ankhmau in Madhya Pradesh’s Narmadapuram district on Saturday.
Yadav died in a private hospital in Gurgaon on Thursday. He was 75.
The mortal remains of Yadav was brought to Bhopal in a private plane in the afternoon. Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president VD Sharma and former chief minister Digvijaya Singh paid homage to the departed soul. Later, the body was taken to his village by road and reached there at 3.30pm. His family members and locals gathered in large numbers at the village to see Sharad Yadav for the last time.
Yadav’s daughter Subhashini and son Shantanu performed the last rites. Digvijaya Singh, his son and Congress MLA Jaivardhan Singh, Union minister Prahlad Patel and Samajwadi party state president Ramayan Singh were present in Aankhmau village during the cremation.
Sharad Yadav’s brother SPS Yadav said, “People were eagerly waiting to pay tribute to their Sharad Bhai, who always fought for them. He came to the village last year. While talking over phone on the New Year, he said he wanted to come to the village but we didn’t know that his mortal remains will come to the village.”
{{/usCountry}}Sharad Yadav’s brother SPS Yadav said, “People were eagerly waiting to pay tribute to their Sharad Bhai, who always fought for them. He came to the village last year. While talking over phone on the New Year, he said he wanted to come to the village but we didn’t know that his mortal remains will come to the village.”
{{/usCountry}}Police force was deployed in the village to maintain law and order.
Sharad Yadav had supported Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh during the Narmad Parikram Yatra in 2017-18. Singh said his death was an irreparable loss for the Indian politics.
Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said, “He left us suddenly. He was my neighbour. Sharad Bhai fought against injustice and joined national politics in his student life. He was one of the main pillars of JP’s (Jayaprakash Narayan) movement. He won the election while in jail and dominated Indian politics for three decades. He played a very important role in implementing the Mandal Commission. He lived his life for the welfare of the weak and backward section of the society.”