Vajpayee bids Ranga an affectionate farewell

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, AUG. 23. The President, Mr. K.R. Narayanan, led the nation in mourning the death of the Power Minister, Mr. P.R. Kumarmangalam. ``Concerned as I was to hear of his illness, I remained hopeful of his recovery. Death has snatched away from our midst a dynamic personality, an able Parliamentarian and an administrator who made his mark in public life at a young age,'' Mr. Narayanan said in a condolence letter to Mr. Kumaramangalam's wife, Mrs. Kitty Kumaramangalam.

The Prime Minister, Mr. A.B. Vajpayee, convened a special meeting of the Union Cabinet to grieve the passing away of the Power Minister.

The Ministers observed a two-minute silence to mourn their colleague's death and passed a condolence resolution recording their deep appreciation of the services rendered by Mr. Kumaramangalam.

In a separate message, the Prime Minister shared his grief with Mr. Kumaramangalam's family and bid ``Ranga an affectionate farewell''. He noted that in his last assignment as Power Minister, Mr. Kumaramangalam, in a brief span of two years, gave a new thrust and direction to power sector reforms.

Although he joined the BJP in 1998, he had friends across the political spectrum; rare was the person who would not praise him.

The visiting Japanese Prime Minister, Mr. Yoshiro Mori, conveyed his condolence to Mr. Vajpayee when he arrived at the Rashtrapati Bhavan for the ceremonial reception.

The Vice-President, Mr. Krishna Kant, the Lok Sabha Speaker, Mr. G.M.C. Balayogi, and the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson, Dr. Najma Heptullah, besides several Union Ministers and Chief Ministers expressed their grief.

The CPI general-secretary, Mr. A.B. Bardhan, recalled the association of several of Mr. Kumaramangalam's family members with the Communist Party and observed that his dynamism had enabled him to cut a path of his own.

Our Chennai Special Correspondent writes:

The former Maharashtra Governor, Mr. C. Subramaniam, said the death was a ``national tragedy'' as a dynamic, upcoming Parliamentarian and administrator had been snatched away at an early age. ``The whole nation mourns this loss,'' he said.

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