Tributes paid to former PM Chandra Shekhar on his death anniversary

Lucknow: Tributes were paid here to former prime minister Chandra Shekhar on his death anniversary on Monday.

Chandra Shekhar was born on April 17, 1927 in Ballia, and passed away on July 8, 2007.

Paying tributes to the former prime minister, former UP minister and patron of the Loktantra Senani Kalyan Samiti Yashwant Singh said the history of Indian democracy cannot be complete without him.

In a statement issued here, addressing the memorial meeting organised at 'Chandra Shekhar Chabutraa' on the 17th death anniversary of the former prime minister, Singh said, "Those who believe in democracy should read Chandra Shekhar properly and imbibe his thoughts in their lives."

Recalling the period of 1974-1975, Singh said, "There were big leaders in the Congress, and they did not agree with the policies of Indira Gandhi. They even resigned from the Congress after the elections were announced in 1977, but did not dare to oppose her in 1974-75."

The memorial meeting was presided over by Dhirendra Nath Srivastava, convener of the Loktantra Senani Kalyan Samiti, Uttar Pradesh.

MLAs Bechai Saroj and Sudhakar Singh, former MLA Kuber Bhandari, social activist Jagdish Rai and many other prominent people paid tributes to Chandra Shekhar.

Various programmes were organised in his home town of Ballia to mark his death anniversary.

In a programme organised under the leadership of Chandra Shekhar's grandson and member of the UP Legislative Council Ravi Shankar Singh Pappu in Ballia's Chandra Shekhar Udyan, a large number of people paid tributes to the former prime minister.

Tributes were also paid to Chandra Shekhar at his ancestral residence in Ibrahimpatti. On this occasion, Chandra Shekhar's nephew Jai Prakash Singh said that the country was burning when he assumed the post of prime minister, but he took many tough decisions in the national interest.

A seminar on 'value-centric politics and Chandra Shekhar ji' was organised at the Jananayak Chandrashekhar University, Ballia, along with plantation of trees in the campus and affiliated colleges.