Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and a host of dignitaries from across the country besides Mauritius and Sri Lanka would take part in former President A P J Abdul Kalam's funeral to take place in his hometown of Rameswaram. Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa, however, said she would not be able to attend due to health reasons. 

 

In a statement, Jayalalithaa said she had a lot of respect and regard for Kalam and wished to attend the funeral. "But I am unable to travel owing to my health condition," the chief minister said. This is the second occasion after AIADMK's Iftar party earlier this month that Jayalalithaa is citing illness to skip an event. Her statement came even as a high-level coordination meeting held in the Secretariat on Tuesday discussed the modalities of her visit to the town, sources said. 

 

Instead, she deputed seven of her cabinet colleagues, including O Panneerselvam (finance), Natham R Viswanathan (electricity), R Vaithialingam (housing), Edapadi K Palaniswamy (highways), P Palaniappan (higher education), S Sundararaj (youth welfare and sports) and R B Udayakumar (revenue) to represent the state. "Following requests from Kalam's family, a government plot has been chosen to bury the mortal remains as per my order," Jayalalithaa said. 

 

According to information received by the government, Mauritius vice-prime minister Showkutally Soodhun and Sri Lankan minister D M Swaminathan and diplomats will attend Kalam's last rites. Besides Rahul Gandhi, leaders of the opposition in the Parliament Ghulam Nabi Azad and Mallikarjun Kharge would also be present. Kerala would be represented by governor P Sadasivam, chief minister Oommen Chandy, and his cabinet colleagues, P J Joseph and M K Muneer. Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandra Babu Naidu and Odisha rural development minister Badri Narayan Patra also confirmed participation. 

 

Meanwhile DMK chief M Karunanidhi expressed deep anguish over Kalam's death. "There are many memories of my close association with him," he said, recalling a function in 2006 at Kalaivanar Arangam, when Kalam presented him the Tholkapia award.

(Times of India)