Cabinet passes condolence resolution; Anil Dave to be cremated on banks of Narmada

NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet today passed a condolence resolution and observed a two-minute silence in the memory of Environment Minister Anil Dave, who died this morning.

Official sources said the Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, met in the afternoon to pass the resolution.

"Anil Madhav Dave left a will in 2012 in which he said that his body should be cremated on the banks of river Narmada," an official source said quoting his will.

"If people have love and respect for him, no memorial should be erected anywhere in his name, rather they should plant a tree," the source quoted the will.

Dave, a long-time RSS member best-known for crafting the BJP strategy to unseat Congress stalwart Digvijay Singh as Madhya Pradesh chief minister in 2003, died here at 60.

A senior doctor at the AIIMS, where Dave was rushed to after he complained of uneasiness, said the minister suffered a cardiac arrest and all efforts resuscitate him were made.

Dave was declared dead around 9.45 AM, he said.