The mortal remains of former Sikkim chief minister Nar Bahadur Bhandari was brought today to Sikkim from Delhi, where he died on Sunday.
His mortal remains arrived at Bagdogra airport this afternoon. It will be brought to his residence at Primula Cottage at Church Road here in the evening, his family sources said.
The funeral will be held at Ranipool here on July 19, which has been declared a state holiday as a mark of respect to the former chief minister.
Sikkim government has announced state mourning from July 17 to July 23 during which the national flag will be flown at half mast at all institutions, official sources said.
Bhandari was the second chief minister after L D Kazi to hold the reins of the fledgling state which officially became a part of the Indian Union in 1975. One of the longest serving chief ministers of the tiny Himalyan state, he had assumed office for the first time in 1979 on a Janata Parishad ticket and then again in 1984 and 1989 on a Sikkim Sangram Parishad ticket.
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