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Uttarakhand assembly remembers senior leader Indira Hridayesh
Hridayesh who was the senior-most member of the House, died a few months ago from cardiac arrest in Delhi.
The first day of the monsoon session in the state Assembly commenced with tributes paid to late senior Congress leader and former leader of Opposition, Indira Hridayesh on Monday in Dehradun. Legislators from both Opposition and ruling sides hailed her as a leader who rose above the “concept of ruling party vs Opposition.”
Hridayesh who was the senior-most member of the House, died a few months ago from cardiac arrest in Delhi where she had gone to attend a party meeting along with other leaders. The legislators offered their tributes to her along with six other leaders including sitting MLA from Gangotri, Gopal Singh Rawat, former MLAs Bachchi Singh Rawat, Narendra Singh Bhandari, Amrish Kumar, Sri Chandra and former chief minister (CM) of Uttar Pradesh and former Governor of two states, Kalyan Singh.
Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami was the first one to speak in the House to offer his tributes to Hridayesh by calling her a “leader of principles with vast knowledge of the legislative process.”
“The kind of leader she was, I still can’t believe that she is no more. She was a very learned MLA from whom we learnt a lot. A leader with great oratory skills, she would always shower affection on the junior legislators and help them a lot with the various legislative working of Assembly,” said Dhami.
“Her behaviour with others never changed even after rising to the ranks of a cabinet minister from an MLA.”
Dhami also offered tributes to Kalyan Singh saying, “Speaking on him is like showing a lamp to sun. He was a political guru to many of us when we were in student politics in undivided Uttar Pradesh. He always worked for the welfare of the poor.”
BJP MLA Madan Kaushik who is also the party state president hailed Hridayesh by terming her a leader who listened to all the leaders irrespective of the party she belonged to.
“She always tried to work in coordination with the Opposition parties even when she was in the government. We would always seek her guidance whenever we faced issues in any House proceeding. She will always be an inspiration to all of us,” said Kaushik.
The newly appointed leader of Opposition Pritam Singh who was attending the House for the first time after being given the responsibility by his party following Hridayesh’s demise said, “Sitting as the Leader of Opposition in her place in the House, I am feeling uneasy.”
“She was such a tall personality in the state’s politics that the more is said about her, it is only less. I was fortunate enough to spend some time with her in my political career,” said Singh.
He added, “There are very few leaders who would show love and affection to the junior MLAs. She was at the forefront of such MLAs. She always did politics for the development of state and never indulged in ruling vs Opposition party thing.”
He said that he can’t believe that she is no more with them in the House.
“With the kind of tall leader she was, the real tribute to her would be to walk on the path of principles she was onto,” said Singh.
Earlier, before the House commenced, the legislators also paid their tributes to the founder of the Chipko Movement and prominent environmentalist Sunderlal Bahuguna.
