Kalyan Singh cremated with full state honours, top leaders attend funeral

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani and Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Dhami were among senior BJP leaders who attended the funeral. Heavy security was put in place to guard the area as supporters kept arriving from the afternoon.

From family members to party cadres to people who arrived at the last rites, those who showered praises on the former CM recalled his role in the Ram Janmabhoomi movement.

“As a son, it’s a personal loss for me, but I think god had sent him to earth for the construction of Ram temple and he went after achieving that,” said 62-year-old Rajveer, who is also a BJP leader.

The 89-year-old former CM, popularly known as “Babuji”, hailed from Atrauli area of Aligarh district and was a prominent Lodh face of the BJP but gained prominence with his role in the Ram Mandir movement.

Dulri Singh, 56, a farmer who came from Etah for the last sites said: “We are seeing Ram Mandir being constructed due to him…he gave up chief ministership but did not let bullets be fired upon kar sevaks,” he said.

Dhruv Kushwaha, a contractor from Narora said, “When he (Singh) represented this constituency he stopped cheating altogether in examinations. He worked for all sections of society.”

Awdesh Kukar Sonkar from Jaunpur said that his grandfather was associated with Singh which brought him to the place. “Why we feel so deeply about him is because he gave up his CM post but did not move back from his commitment for Ram Mandir.”

MLA Anita Lodi, however, recounted Singh’s work in a different light. “It was him who strengthened the STF and was the first to initiate strict action on criminal culture in UP. His contribution in stopping cheating in board exams is also significant which led to improvement in educational set up of state.”