Ex-UP governor dies at 76

Former UP governor and ex-vice president of BJP Pandit Vishnukant Shastri died of heart attack in a train near Patna on Sunday, BJP sources ...

Former UP governor and ex-vice president of BJP Pandit Vishnukant Shastri died of heart attack in a train near Patna on Sunday, BJP sources said. He was 76. Shastri collapsed in the toilet of Howrah-Danapur Express. He was travelling to Patna to give a discourse on Gita.

His attendants had to break open the toilet when Shastri didn’t not come out for a long time. His body was taken to the Patna Medical College and Hospital for autopsy before being brought to the state BJP headquarters.

Shastri became the member of the West Bengal Assembly in 1977 and was also a member of the Rajya Sabha. He was all-India vice-president of BJP before he took over as UP governor.

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But, his first love was academics. Born in Kolkata on May 2, 1929 to Pandit Narottam Gangeya Shastri and Rupeswari Devi, he was influenced by his family’s links with RSS and soon became a member. He completed MA in Hindi from Calcutta University and became a lecturer there in 1953. He retired as the Hindi department head in 1994. Shastri was chief of BJP’s West Bengal unit during 1982-83 and from 1995 to 1997. He was then appointed Governor of Himachal in 1999 and UP in 2000.

He travelled to England, France, Trinidad and Surinam where he lectured on Hindi literature. Books edited by him include Darshak aur Aj Ka Hindi Rangmanch, Balmukund Gupt: Ek Mulyankan, Bangladesh: Sanskriti aur Sahitya and Tulsi Das: Aj Ke Sandarbha Mein.

His body was flown to Kolkata by a BSF helicopter for cremation tomorrow.

Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat said ‘‘He was a literary personality and was deeply committed to the growth of Indian culture and its values’’.

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Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav called him an ‘‘able administrator and a simple person’’. (PTI)