NEW DELHI, June 23 (UNI) Hundreds of mourners today bade farewell to BJP leader Sunder Singh Bhandari, who died yesterday of a heart attack at age 84.
Led by Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, numerous political leaders, mostly from the BJP and the VHP, queued up to lay floral wreathes around the funeral pyre before it was lit by the late former Governor's nephew Shashi.
An RSS Pracharak, Bhandari, one of the founders of the erstwhile Jana Sangh, has died a bachelor.
The leaders who attended the cremation at Nigam Bodh Ghat included VHP Working President Ashok Singhal, BJP chief L K Advani, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Babu Lal Gaur and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje Scindia.
Bhandari's body earlier lay in state at the BJP headquarters before it was brought to Nigam Bodh Ghat for cremation at 0930 hrs.
BJP leaders Rajnath Singh, Pramod Mahajan, Arun Jaitley, Kalraj Mishra and Ravi Shankar Prasad, were also present.
Bhandari, who began his political career as an RSS Pracharak, rose as a top-rung BJP leader who held gubernatorial assignments in Bihar and Gujarat besides being a three-time member of the Rajya Sabha.
However, he became unpopular with the Sangh Parivar recently over his criticism of Chief Minister Narendra Modi's handling of the Gujarat riots in 2002 when he was the state Governor.
Bhandari was elected to the Rajya Sabha three times - twice from Rajasthan and once from Uttar Pradesh in 1966, '76 and '92.
He was leader of the BJP group in the Rajya Sabha from 1967-68 and also served in several Parliamentary Committees.
Bhandari was detained under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) in Delhi from January 1976 to January 1977 during the Emergency.
He was Governor of Bihar from April, 1998 to March, 1999.
Bhandari became Gujarat Governor in March, 1999 and remained in the post till May, 2003.
