Ex-governor, veteran BJP neta Keshari Nath Tripathi passes away at 88

PRAYAGRAJ: Former Governor of West Bengal, Bihar, Meghalaya and Mizoram, former speaker of UP legislative assembly and senior leader of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Keshari Nath Tripathi, passed away at his Prayagraj residence on Sunday morning. He was 88. President Droupadi Murmu, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, ministers in the Yogi's cabinet, several members of Parliament, family and friends of the departed leader and a large number of locals have mourned his death. Tripathi is survived by two daughters, Namita and Nidhi, and a son, Neeraj Tripathi, who is the additional advocate general for the state government at Allahabad high court.
Tripathi was later cremated at Daraganj Ghat with full state honours.
His son, Neeraj Tripathi, lit the pyre amidst chanting of vedic mantras.
Tripathi was admitted at a private hospital in Prayagraj in December-end after he complained of breathlessness. After a week, he was discharged earlier this week. However, the veteran leader breathed his last around 5:00 am on Sunday. Following his demise, Chief Minister Yogi Aditya Nath, deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya, state cabinet ministers, Nand Gopal Gupta Nandi and Swatantra Dev Singh, UP assembly speaker Satish Mahana and several other senior leaders of the party visited his residence to pay their homage. Congress’ Rajya Sabha MP Pramod Tewari, Allahabad MP Rita Bahuguna Joshi, some of prominent seers, including member of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust Swami Vasudeva Nand Saraswati, too, visited his house and paid their homage.
Many present and former judges of the Allahabad high court were also present. An MLA for six terms (between 1977 and 1980), he was the speaker of the UP assembly in 1991, 1997 and 2002. He also served as the Speaker of the UP assembly thrice between 1991 and 2004 and as a cabinet minister in the UP government during the Janata Party regime (from 1977 to 1979).