Kingmaker Atal Bahadur Singh dead, city mourns

Nagpur: Atal Bahadur Singh, 79, a prominent figure in the city’s administration, academic, cultural and sports circles, passed away on Friday afternoon following prolonged illness. The last rites would be performed on Saturday.
Born on March 2, 1942 in Benaras, Singh was a revered figure across many circles due to his friendly nature. After becoming deputy mayor in 1974, he had twice donned the mayor’s cap in 1977 and 1994.
Several dignitaries, who closely worked with him during his heydays, mourned the demise of the leader, who was also known as ‘kingmaker’ in Nagpur Municipal Corporation circles.
After floating a political party Lokmanch, Singh had unsuccessfully contested 2009 Lok Sabha polls on BJP ticket, but lost to former Union minister Vilas Muttemwar of the Congress.
Union minister Nitin Gadkari said Singh was never bogged down by caste-religion-creed politics. “I shared a long-standing relationship with him. No matter what crisis befell this city, he was the first to run, help and build. As a sensitive and socially responsible person, Singh will always be remembered by the people. Many of his memories are etched in my mind as a person who always kept his word. Despite political differences, he worked to bring together people from all walks of life,” said Gadkari.
“He enriched the city’s art and culture scenario and was extremely passionate about development, keeping aside political differences. As a student leader, Singh had taken part in the initiative to name various Nagpur University campuses after revolutionary freedom fighters,” recalled leader of opposition Devendra Fadnavis.
Besides holding the post of Nagpur District Football Association (NDFA) president, Singh was a member of NU’s Executive Council, Senate and other bodies for a long time and was part of many important decisions. A disciple of former NU registrar Balraj Aher, he had suggested conferring honorary DLitt on melody queen Lata Mangeshkar.
“With his three decades long association with the NMC, Singh was known as a popular mayor due to his significant contribution for the city’s development. He was always at the forefront of sports, literature and social work activities,” said mayor Dayashankar Tiwari.
Considered as one of the main pillars of NMC during his times along with Prabhakarrao Datke, Nana Shyamkule, Himmatrao Saraikar, Singh was instrumental in starting Sheshrao Wankhede Vidyaniketan for poor students and also took an initiative to start several libraries during his tenure as mayor.
In 2014, he was honored with Shiv Chhatrapati Lifetime Achievement award by the government of Maharashtra.
“Atal bhaiyya was an asset for the Western India Football Association (WIFA). I happened to work with him for more than 30 years and we had organized many events in the region including the India vs Rest of India football match at Yashwant Stadium,” said NDFA president Haresh Vora.
For senior BJP corporator Sandeep Joshi, Singh was a guiding light and he shared a close relationship with him. “He was real inspiration and guide on how to do social work, how to back budding players,” said Joshi.