E-Paper
Ex-West Bengal guv Keshari Nath Tripathi cremated with full state honours
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former West Bengal governor Keshari Nath Tripathi (88) passed away at his home in Prayagraj early on Sunday
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former West Bengal governor Keshari Nath Tripathi (88) passed away at his home in Prayagraj early on Sunday. The three-time speaker of the U.P. Legislative Assembly had been unwell for the past around one month. His mortal remains were cremated with full state honours at the Daraganj ghat later in the evening.
His son Neeraj Tripathi lit the funeral pyre in the presence of other family members, including both the daughters, daughter-in-law and sons-in-law, besides senior officials of the district administration, several senior BJP leaders, present and former MPs, seers, members of the lawyer fraternity and Tripathi’s old friends.
Even as senior leaders cutting across political divide from across the country paid their tribute, U.P. chief minister Yogi Adityanath, deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya, U.P. cabinet ministers, including Nand Gopal Gupta “Nandi”, Swatantra Dev Singh, U.P. Legislative Assembly speaker Satish Mahana and several other senior leaders of the party visited the residence of Tripathi at Lohia Marg, Civil Lines to pay their last respects.
Rajya Sabha MP and senior Congress leader Pramod Tiwari, BJP MP from Allahabad seat Rita Bahuguna Joshi, some prominent seers, including member, Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, Swami Vasudevanand Saraswati too visited his house to pay homage. Many present and former judges of the Allahabad high court besides U.P. advocate general Ajay Kumar Mishra too visited Tripathi’s residence to pay their last respects.
On December 8 last year, Keshari Nath Tripathi had fractured his hand after falling in the washroom. He also had general weakness besides decreased oral intake and urine output and was admitted to the ICU of a private hospital on December 30. After undergoing treatment at the hospital for around a week, Tripathi was brought home in Civil Lines, where he passed away in the wee hours of Sunday, his family members said.
He had earlier contracted the Covid virus twice and recovered after long treatment at the Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, they added. Tripathi was born in erstwhile Allahabad (now Prayagraj) on November 10, 1934. He graduated from Allahabad University in 1953 and passed LLB examination in 1955. In 1956 he was registered as an advocate.
A senior advocate of the Allahabad high court and a well-respected Hindi poet with multiple publications under his belt, Tripathi served as a member of the Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly six times, including from Jhunsi seat (1977-1980) and with five consecutive wins from Allahabad South seat (between 1989 and 2007). He also served as the speaker of the U.P. Legislative Assembly thrice between 1991 and 2004.
On July 14, 2014, Tripathi was appointed the governor of West Bengal. He also had additional charge of Bihar as governor twice and additional charge as governor of Meghalaya and Mizoram as well.
