BJP veteran Vijayaraje Scinda, 81, dies
Express News Service

New Delhi, January 25: Senior BJP Leader Vijayaraje Scindia died after a prolonged battle at the Apollo Hospital at 3 a.m. today. The body of the Rajmata, who was admitted to Apollo on January 2, has been flown to Gwalior, where her funeral will be held on Saturday.

Home Minister L.K. Advani accompanied her son Madhavrao and daughters Vasundhara Raje and Yashodhara Raje in a state aircraft to Gwalior. Vajpayee would be attending the funeral.

Her body was bought to Scindia Villa at around 10 a.m. from the hospital. Sources disclosed that there was pressure from the BJP to keep her body at the party office; however, Madhavrao's will prevailed and the body was kept at Scindia Villa before being flown to Gwalior.

The 81-year-old leader and erstwhile royal had been ailing since February 1998 itself, and she gradually withdrew from active politics since then. Born on October 12, 1919, she was first elected to Parliament from Guna in Madhya Pradesh in 1957. Her devoted work in the Bhartiya Jana Sangh, Janata Party and later the BJP will always be remembered, Vajpayee remarked.

Apart from Vajpayee and Advani, the president, vice president and Lok Sabha speaker GMC Balayogi offered their condolences in Delhi. As did Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh, CPM Leader Somnath Chatterjee and Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.

``She was like a mother for the entire party cadre, led a simple life and dedicated herself to the cause of Hindutva,'' Naidu said.

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