The Monsoon session of Uttarakhand assembly started on a sombre note on Monday with the members paying homage to Indira Hridayesh, former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh and five other leaders.
Speaking on the motion of condolence, which was the only business of the house on the first day of the session, the Chief Minister and Leader of the House Pushkar Singh Dhami said death of Indira Hridayesh has created a void in the State Assembly.
Remembering his personal experience with her, the CM said Hridayesh never changed her approach of dealing with people even when she was in power or outside it. He said Indira Hridayesh holds the record of winning the Vidhan Parishad in UP by biggest margin.
Paying rich tributes to former UP CM Kalyan Singh, Dhami said he dedicated his life to be the voice of the poor and backward and provided a crime and corruption-free Government in UP.
He said Kalyan Singh sacrificed his Government for the cause of Ram temple in Ayodhya. The CM also paid homage to Gangotri MLA Gopal Singh Rawat, Srichand, Ambrish Kumar, former Education Minister Narendra Singh Bhandari and Bachi Singh Rawat.
President of Uttarakhand BJP and Haridwar MLA Madan Kaushik said Indira Hridayesh never discriminated with anyone on the basis of political affiliations. He said the late Ambrish Kumar was a real leader.
Chakrata MLA, Pritam Singh who replaced Indira Hridayesh in the position of Leader of Opposition (LoP) became emotional while remembering her and said he is feeling uncomfortable while sitting on her chair. He said that she started her political career in 1974 and represented UP Vidhan Parishad four times. The Ministers and many members of the house also paid tributes to the late Indira Hridayesh and other leaders. The house also observed a silence of two minutes as a mark of its respect to the departed leaders.