Sheila Dikshit to Be Accorded State Funeral Today, Last Rites at Nigam Bodh Ghat at 2:30 PM
The last rites of Sheila Dikshit, veteran Congress leader and former chief minister of Delhi, will be performed today. Sheila Dikshit will be accorded a state funeral as a mark of respect.
New Delhi, July 21: The last rites of Sheila Dikshit, veteran Congress leader and former chief minister of Delhi, will be performed today. Sheila Dikshit will be accorded a state funeral as a mark of respect, Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has announced. Dikshit died at a private hospital on Saturday following cardiac arrest. She was 81. Her last rites will be performed at 2.30 pm today at Nigam Bodh ghat.
The mortal remains of Sheila Dikshit are kept at her residence where a host of leaders including President Ram Nath Kovind, former President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi paid their last tributes to the Congress leader. Her body will be brought at the Congress headquarters for final respects. Sheila Dikshit Dies at 81: Journey of The Woman Who Became Congress Warhorse in Delhi.
"Her last rites will be performed at 2.30 pm at Nigam Bodh Ghat crematorium," Delhi Congress said. As tributes from across the political spectrum poured in, the Delhi government announced two-day mourning for Dikshit, who was Chief Minister for three consecutive terms (1998-2013) and remembered as a 'mother figure', 'banyan tree' and 'iron lady'. She had also been Kerala Governor briefly in 2014. Sheila Dikshit Death: From President Kovind to PM Narendra Modi And Rahul Gandhi, Here's How Politicians React to Former Delhi CM's Demise.
Dikshit, who was currently the Congress's Delhi unit President, suffered cardiac arrest and was brought to the Fortis Escorts Heart Institute around 10:30 am on Saturday morning in a critical condition. A multi-disciplinary team of doctors, led by the institute's Chairman Ashok Seth carried out advanced resuscitative measures. "Her condition stabilised temporarily. But she had another cardiac arrest and despite all the efforts, she died at 3:55 pm," a hospital statement said.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 21, 2019 08:41 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).