The ashes of one of the founders of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the earlier avatar of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Balraj Madhok, were immersed in Ganga on Tuesday morning amidst religious rituals. Many BJP party workers gathered at Har-ki- Pauri to pay tributes to the departed leader. The daughters of the departed leader immersed the ashes of their father in Ganga.
The 96- year- old Balraj Madhok, one- time rival of A B Vajpayee had passed away at his residence in New Delhi on May 2. He was undergoing treatment at All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi for the past one month. His daughters Madhuri Madhok and Shakti Madhok immersed the ashes in Ganga at Har Ki Pauri. The teerth purohit of the family Bal Dutt ceremonised the last rituals. His nephew Virendra Madhok along with his wife Shashi Madhok were amongst the other family members present.
Notably, Balraj Madhok was a full -time member of RSS in 1942 and was politically active in Jammu and Kashmir. He assisted Dr Shyma Prasad Mukherjee in forming Jana Sangh. Akhil Bhartiya Viidyarthi Parishad, the RSS student wing, came into being at his initiative in 1951. Although he was expelled from Jana Sangh in 1973 he remained actively involved in politics. He was imprisoned during the Emergency of 1975-77. He had penned a few books, The Kashmir : The Storm Centre of the World and the biography of Dr Mukherjee are still popular.
Amongst others, BJP mandal president Pradeep Kalra, president of Akhil Bhartiya Yuva Teerth Purohit Ujjwal Pandit, Vikas Tiwari and Kanhaiya Khewariya were present during the ash immersion ceremony.