In a spontaneous outpouring of grief, hundreds of people including the frontline BJP leaders in Chhattisgarh bid tearful adieu to former Minister and BJP leader Hemchand Yadav who was cremated in his home town Durg on Thursday.
Hemchand who was minister in the state government for a prolonged period, breathed his last at All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), New Delhi early morning on Wednesday, where he had been admitted for treatment for stomach-related ailments.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh paying tribute on this occasion declared that the recently formed Durg University would be named after him. “This was not a right occasion to declare such thing but the name of Hemchand had to be made alive and that’s what why I am declaring it”, he said.
Earlier his final procession was taken out from his Baiga Para, Durg based residence and after making stopovers for few hours at District BJP office where people paid floral tributes, the procession was taken to Harnabandha Muktidham.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh, Chhattisgarh State Assembly Speaker Gaurishanker Agrawal, BJP’s in-charge for Chhattisgarh Anil Jain, State BJP President Dharamlal Kaushik, and other prominent leaders of ruling BJP including Ministers Brijmohan Agrawal, Prem Prakash Pandey, Ajay Chandrakar, Member of Parliament Saroj Pandey, Durg MlA and Congress leader Arun Vora attended the last rite.
Yadav was first elected as an MlA from Durg in 1998 (when it was part of the undivided Madhya Pradesh) and again in 2003 and 2008.
He was part of the Raman Singh cabinet from 2003 to 2013, and served as the minister of labour, Water Resources, Panchayat and Rural Development and Higher Education.