Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expressed grief over the demise of BJP veteran Kalyan Singh on Saturday and said it was an “irreparable loss” for the society and the saffron party.
Singh, who was ailing for some time, died at the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGI) here on Saturday night. He was 89.
Singh was the Uttar Pradesh chief minister when the Babri mosque was demolished by a mob of “karsevaks” in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.
Speaking to reporters at SGPGI, Adityanath said, “Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and former governor of Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh Kalyan Singhji is no more. He was ailing for the past two months and was undergoing treatment. At around 9.15 pm, he breathed his last. All of us feel sad. As the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and a mass leader, he showed transparency and firmness in administration.
“The values for which he stood for are still a benchmark. He was a prominent leader of the Ram temple movement and did not hesitate to quit office, so that a grand temple for Lord Ram may be built in Ayodhya. After the disputed structure fell on December 6, 1992, he tendered resignation taking moral responsibility.”
He described Singh’s demise as an “irreparable loss” for the society and the BJP.
An emotional Adityanath announced a three-day mourning in Uttar Pradesh and a public holiday on Monday when the former chief minister’s last rites will be performed on the banks of the Ganga in Narora.
Uttar Pradesh BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh informed that all party programmes will remain suspended for three days.
Singh was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of the SGPGI in a critical condition on July 4.
He died due to sepsis and multi-organ failure, the hospital said in a statement.