The former Governor of Maharashtra P.C. Alexander was buried at the cemetery attached to the Puthiyakavu St. Mary's Orthodox Cathedral here on Saturday with full State honours. A large number of people turned up at the cemetery to pay their last respects to Alexander who had a distinguished career spanning about six decades as a bureaucrat, member of the Rajya Sabha and Principal Secretary to Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi.
He was buried in a vault, prepared nearly two years ago on his instructions. The funeral service was led by Catholicos Baselios Mar Thoma Paulose II of the Orthodox Church. Senior Bishop of the Church Geevarghese Mar Osthathios was among those who offered prayers for the departed.
Brief commemorative speeches recalled Mr. Alexander's contributions to the country and the Orthodox Church.
Maharashtra Minister for Public Health and Protocol Suresh Shetty, who placed a wreath on the body on behalf of the people of the State, recalled the involvement of the State's longest serving Governor in improving the lot of the poor, especially those in the backward regions of Marathwada and Vidarbha.
Speakers recalled that Alexander was being laid to rest on the day of the Nehru Trophy Boat Race in Alappuzha, an event he was directly responsible in establishing, in 1953.
Finance Minister K.M. Mani; Minister for Labour Shibu Baby John; Speaker G. Karthikeyan; Union Minister of State for Power K.C. Venugopal; UDF Chief Whip P.C. George; Mavelikara MLA R. Rajesh; chairman of the municipality K.R. Muraleedharan; and the former Minister of State for Railways O. Rajagopal; were among those who placed wreaths on the body of Mr. Alexander and offered condolences to the family members.
District Collector P. Venugopal placed wreaths on behalf of the Chief Minister, Kerala and Maharashtra Governors and Union Minister of State for Food and Civil Supplies K.V. Thomas.
The body of Mr. Alexander was brought to his hometown by road from Kochi at 10 a. m. Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president Ramesh Chennithala and Kodikkunnil Suresh, MP, were among those who received the body at Harippad from where it was brought in a procession to his ancestral home at Puthiyakavu, where a large ‘pandal' was erected at the spot where his ancestral home once stood.
