People pay homage to their leader; Kharge inconsolable

A woman breaks down in front the body of Dharam Singh at Nutan Vidyalaya Grounds in Kalaburagi on Friday, even as Mallikarjun Kharge and Dharam Singh’s wife are inconsolable.

Thousands of people from Bidar, Kalaburagi and other parts of Hyderabad Karnataka region paid the last respects to their beloved leader N. Dharam Singh on Thursday night and Friday morning.

The body of the former Chief Minister was brought in a special flight to Bidar airbase on Thursday evening and kept for public homage outside the airbase for two hours.

The body, wrapped in a Tricolour, was then brought to Kalaburagi by road in a vehicle which was stopped at various points

en route to allow the public and party workers pay their last respects.

In major towns such as Hallikedh, Humnabad, Kamalapur, Mahagaon people gathered in large numbers.

The mortal remains reached Kalaburagi at about 1 a.m. on Friday and was kept at Dharam Singh’s residence at Sharan Nagar in the city before it was taken to Nutan Vidyalaya Grounds behind the residence by 6 a.m.

Inconsolable

Leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha and Dharam Singh’s long-time friend M. Mallikarjun Kharge and his wife Radhabai were with the body since early morning consoling Dharam Singh’s wife Prabhavathi. At a point, a heartbroken Kharge, Prabhavathi and Ajay Singh (Dharam Singh’s younger son and MLA from Jewargi) were inconsolable.

Minister for Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister U.T. Khader, the former Minister Baburao Chinchansur, Dharam Singh’s long-time associate from Maharashtra Shantappa Metri, heads of various mutts and religious institutions and others visited Nutan Vidyalaya Grounds and paid their last respects.

Murugharajendra Swamy of Jidaga Mutt in Aland taluk, of which Dharam Singh was a staunch follower, had rushed to Bengaluru on Thursday upon hearing the news of death. He again visited Nutan Vidyalaya Grounds to pay homage to the leader on Friday morning. Doctors, lawyers, traders, businessmen and people from all walks of life paid homage in groups.

Shutdown in Jewargi

The body was taken to Jewargi, his home town, and kept at the ground beside the taluk administrative complex between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. for public viewing. Thousands of people from Jewargi constituency which Dharam Singh represented eight times between 1972 and 2004 and surrounding areas thronged the town to pay homage to the leader. At a point, the police struggled in managing the crowd and resorted to a mild laticharge to bring the situation under control.

Jewargi town and the 22-km stretch between Jewargi and Nelogi, Dharam Singh’s village, observed an undeclared and voluntary shutdown as mark of respect to the leader. People were standing on rooftops of every building on either side of the road between Jewargi and Nelogi to catch a glimpse of the Congressman.