Leaders, public pay homage to Ananth Kumar
Bengaluru, Nov 13: A stream of leaders and supporters Tuesday paid their last respects to Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister and senior BJP leader Ananth Kumar, who passed away on Monday.
The body was taken from his Basavanagudi residence, where it was kept since Monday morning to Jagannath Bhavan, the BJP state headquarters at Malleshwaram, in a decorated military vehicle with personnel of the three services- the Army, Navy and Air Force- accompanying it.
The procession began, with supporters chanting slogans "Bharat Mata Ki Jai", "Ananth Kumar Amar Rahe".
State BJP President B S Yeddyurappa and party's General Secretary in-charge of Karnataka Muralidhar Rao were present at the state BJP office, where a pall of gloom has descended.
Several BJP leaders including Union Minister Sadananda Gowda, R Ashok, K S Eshwarappa, Anurag Thakur, Pralhad Joshi, and hundreds of party workers paid their last respects to the departed leader at the party office, where the body will be kept for about an hour.
Kumar's mortal remains will then be shifted to the National College Ground, which falls in his constituency, for the public to pay homage, before the funeral at Chamarajpet crematorium in the afternoon.
The central government has announced a state funeral for Kumar.
According to sources close to the family, Kumar's brother Nanda Kumar will perform the last rites according to Brahmin traditions.
The 59-year-old Bangaluru South MP breathed his last around 2 am on Monday at the Sri Shankara Cancer Hospital and Research Centre where he was under care after returning home in October following treatment in the US and Britain.
Besides Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu and BJP President Amit Shah, Union Ministers, including Rajnath Singh, Piyush Goyal, Harsh Vardhan, Radha Mohan Singh, Ramdas Athawale, Mahesh Sharma, Ashwini Kumar Choubey and Ram Kripal Yadav would pay homage on Tuesday, party sources said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi flew in here from Varanasi and drove straight to the residence of Kumar at Basavanagudi and paid homage to his colleague by placing a wreath on his mortal remains, on Monday night.
Modi consoled Kumar's wife Tejaswini and his two daughters during his 15-minute visit.
BJP leaders and those from various political parties, relatives, family friends, party workers and people made a beeline at Kumar's residence to pay homage to the "most-loved" Bengaluru MP, known for his affability and cordial ties with rivals.
The Karnataka government had declared a three-day state mourning.
Foraying into politics in 1987, Kumar became an Union minister in the Vajpayee cabinet in 1998 when he was only 38.
He remained in the inner circle of the central leadership of the BJP -- be it during the heyday of Atal Bihari Vajpayee or Narendra Modi now.
He served as an important link between the central and state units of the party.
Teaming up with Yeddyurappa, Kumar was among the few party leaders who could be credited for the growth of the BJP in Karnataka, bringing it to power in 2008 and making it the first saffron party government in the South.
Kumar made his parliamentary debut in 1996 from Bangaluru South, where he remained unconquered till his death.
He had defeated software icon Congress's Nandan Nilekani in the highly politically conscious constituency in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Rupee falls 20 paise to 95.43 against US dollar in early trade
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee depreciated 20 paise to 95.43 against US dollar in early trade on Tuesday as market sentiments remained fragile after renewed military exchanges between US and Iranian forces in the Gulf region.
Forex traders said investor anxiety due to instability in the Gulf is causing massive capital flight into safe-haven assets, with the US dollar acting as the primary beneficiary.
Moreover, Brent oil prices is hovering near USD 113 per barrel, maintaining pressure on oil-importing economies like India.
At the interbank foreign exchange market the rupee opened at 95.30 then lost ground to touch 95.43 against the US dollar, in initial trade, registering a fall of 20 paise over its previous close.
Rupee fell 39 paise to close at an all-time low of 95.23 against the US dollar on Monday.
"With oil boiling rupee on Monday fell to a closing low of 95.0875 and this morning the opening was still lower as it becomes more and more vulnerable when dollar index rises due to safe-haven buying and oil prices rise due to the continuous fighting in the Gulf Region," Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director, Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP, said.
The higher oil prices will keep rupee sold off against the dollar as oil companies and FPIs intensify dollar buying, Bhansali added.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading at 98.51, up 0.15 per cent.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading lower by 1.07 per cent at USD 113.22 per barrel in futures trade.
"Market sentiments remained fragile after renewed military exchanges between US and Iranian forces when Iranian forces launched fresh attacks in the Gulf as both sides sought to assert control over the strategic waterway," Bhansali said.
On the domestic equity market front, Sensex declined 361.62 points to 76,907.78 in early trade, while the Nifty dropped 134.90 points to 23,980.60.
Foreign Institutional Investors purchased equities worth Rs 2,835.62 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.
