BJP ex-president Jana Krishnamurthy dead
The 79-year-old Krishnamurthy, who was law minister for some time in the Vajpayee government, is survived by wife, two sons and three daughters.
By PTI |
NEW DELHI: Jana K Krishnamurthy, who became the first leader from the south to become President of the BJP, died here today after a prolonged illness.
The 79-year-old Krishnamurthy, who was law minister for some time in the Vajpayee government, is survived by wife, two sons and three daughters.
Jana, as he was called by his admirers, was appointed president of the BJP after the unceremonious exit of Bangaru Lakshman in the wake of the Tehelka scam. His term at the party’s helm, however, came to an end next year when L K Advani’s supporter M Venkaiah Naidu was appointed president.
Krishnamurthy, who was elected to Rajya Sabha from Gujarat, was later made a minister in the Vajpayee government.
Considered one of the cleanest politicians, he started his political career as an RSS volunteer in 1940 and stayed with the pro-Hindu stream throughout in a state where Dravidian parties made great progress in the post-independent India.
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Born on May 24, 1928 in Madurai in a family of lawyers, he practised as an advocate in the city for over ten years, before he was attracted to the RSS. He later became its Pranth Baudhik Pramukh.On instructions from the then RSS chief Golwalkar, he enrolled himself as a member of the Jan Sangh, the previous ‘avataar’ of BJP, in 1965.
During emergency, he was the secretary of the ‘Resistance Movement’ in Tamil Nadu. At that time, he came into close contact with some national leaders like George Fernandes, who was staying in the state then.
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