Leaders across party lines mourn former CM

LUCKNOW: Chief minister Yogi Adityanath, governor Ram Naik and senior members from the Congress were present at Lucknow airport to receive the mortal remains of three-time UP chief minister Narayan Dutt Tiwari on Saturday. Tiwari, 93, passed away in Delhi on Friday. UP government has declared a two-day state mourning, on Saturday and Sunday, to condole the death.

Tiwari’s death brought together people from across party lines to pay their respects to the Congress doyen, the only person to have been the CM of two states—UP and Uttarakhand. Deputy CM Dinesh Sharma had gone to Delhi to bring back Tiwari’s body and returned accompanied by his son Rohit Shekar and wife Ujjwala. After Tiwari’s body was received at Lucknow airport, it was taken to Vidhan Bhawan where several leaders had gathered to pay their last respects. His brother Dr Ramesh Tiwari and his family were also present.

A delegation representing Rahul Gandhi offered floral tributes to Tiwari. It was led by Ram Krishna Dwivedi who served as home minister in Tiwari’s cabinet. Senior party members Pramod Tiwari, Sanjay Sinh, Aradhna Mishra and Satyadev Tripathi, among others were present at Vidhan Bhawan.

Several cabinet ministers, including SP Shahi, Rita Bahuguna Joshi, Dr Mahendra Singh and Mohsin Raza were also present. Vidhan Sabha speaker Hriday Narain Dikshit, Lucknow mayor Sanyukta Bhatia, Rajya Sabha member from BSP Satish Chandra Mishra and Rashtriya Lok Dal’s national spokesperson Anil Dubey were among others who reached Vidhan Bhawan to pay their last respects.

Tiwari’s body was finally taken to Pant Nagar around 3pm where his last rites would be performed on Sunday.