The two-time former Gujarat Chief Minister, Vijay Rupani, who was among the 274 killed in the Air India flight crash in Ahmedabad, had delayed his journey to London to visit his daughter twice because of the upcoming Ludhiana West assembly bypolls.
Rupani was first supposed travel to London with his wife on June 1, but deferred his visit and sent his wife to London, where their daughter is staying.
Senior Punjab BJP leaders said Rupani again planned his London visit on June 5, but keeping in view the sensitivity of the Ludhiana West bypolls, according to a report by Hindustan Times.
Rupani, the BJP’s Punjab in-charge, deferred his London visit in order to stay in Ludhiana to oversee the party’s preparedness for the bypolls. The constituency goes to polling on June 19, and the result will be announced on June 23.
“Finally, he left for Gujarat on June 9, and had informed all of us that he will be travelling to London on June 12. We can’t believe that he is no more and was part of the ill-fated flight that crashed on Thursday,” said Subhash Sharma, senior vice-president of the Punjab BJP unit.
Expressing profound sorrow over the passing of Rupani, Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar said, "He was a humble and compassionate human being and a grassroots leader. I had the fortune of being associated with him while he was in-charge of the Punjab BJP. He was a real ‘gentleman politician’. Not only Gujarat has lost a great leader in him, but it is a personal loss for me, as I found his gentle and soft demeanour so endearing. His sagacity and simplicity in public life will be missed.”
Leaders across party lines, including Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann, AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal, former Punjab chief minister and senior BJP leader Amarinder Singh, Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, leader of Opposition in the Punjab assembly Partap Singh Bajwa, state Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and Rajya Sabha member Satnam Singh Sandhu, condoled Rupani’s death.
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