Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday showered praises on her departed Tamil Nadu counterpart J Jayalalitha even as her Government declared a day’s mourning on Tuesday.
Banerjee wrote in the Twitter “with deep sense of grief and sorrow” that she was “eager to attend” her funeral in Chennai but “flight availability timings from Kolkata not making it possible. Sending out two MPs Derek O’ Brien and Kalyan Banerjee from Delhi on my behalf.”
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister who suffered a severe heart attack on Sunday evening passed away on Monday mid-night. She was in hospital for the past 75 days.
Remembering her first meeting with the departed leader “when we were part of NDA in the nineties” Banerjee said, “her political stature could be fathomed from the fact that even a great leader like Atal ji (AB Vajpayee) would leave his chair for her.”
In her death the nation lost a great politician and an administrator Banerjee said adding, “there are some deaths which not only make us sad but also reap our hearts. This is one such death.” like her own self Jayalalitha was a disciplined leader who was dedicated to the people of her State and who worked overtime for their uplift, the Bengal CM said.
Wondering whether her health started deteriorating after she went to jail Banerjee said “I understand how she had to fight against conspiracies hatched against her as I am also a victim to such conspiracies.”
Earlier Bengal Assembly was adjourned for a day as a mark of respect for the departed soul. The Chief Minister along with a number of Cabinet colleagues offered floral tributes to the dead leader’s picture in Kolkata.