Remembering the former Chief Minister of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh Narayan Dutt Tiwari, hailed as Vikas Purush, the State Congress leaders said that the departed leader would be held in grateful remembrance by the people for ever for the developmental works he had initiated as the Chief Minister of then fledgling Uttarakhand.

After the news of the death of nonagenarian leader came on Thursday afternoon, a large number of party leaders and workers gathered at the State Congress office.

The Congress leaders and activists offered floral tributes to the departed leader and observed a silence of two minutes as a mark of respect. 

Referring him to as a towering personality committed to development and service of the people, the State Congress  chief Pritam Singh said that  despite being born in a humble family, he had touched the dizzy heights in his political career by dint of his political acumen, statesmanship and invincible commitment to the development of the people.  He said that as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, he had set up unsurpassable benchmarks in the realm of development. He, further, hailed his contributions rendered during his several stints in the Union Government. “He is synonymous with development,” Singh said.

Singh, further, said that his death has plunged the whole country in sorrow. “He personified humility which along with his image as the man of development endeared him to the people,” he said. Terming the death of the veteran leader as an irreparable loss to the people of Uttarakhand and the Congress, he said that the void is hard to fill.

Narrating his personal experiences, PCC chief said that he had the privilege of working as a Minister when Tiwari helmed the Government as the Chief Minister. He added the departed leader being the first elected CM of Uttarakhand had worked with utmost dedication to give a direction to the nascent State.

Among the Congress leaders who were at the party office to pay respect to the departed leader were the chairman of the State party’s disciplinary committee Pramod Kumar Singh, district Panchayat president Chaman Singh, the State party vice-president Surya Kant Dhasmana, Mahanagar Congress president Lal Chand Sharma and the State party spokesperson Garima Dassauni.