Veteran Himachal BJP leader Kishan Kapoor dies at 73 CM governor pay tribute

Shimla, Feb 1(PTI) Leaders across Himachal Pradesh paid rich tributes to Kishan Kapoor, a five-time BJP MLA and former Lok Sabha member, who passed away at the age of 73 at PGI Chandigarh on Saturday.
     He is survived by his wife, Rekha Kapoor, a son and a daughter.
     Kapoor joined Jan Sangh in 1970 and was elected to the Himachal Assembly in 1990, 1993, 1998, 2007, and 2017.
     He served as a cabinet minister in BJP governments headed by Prem Kumar Dhumal from 1998 to 2003 and 2007 to 2012, and also served as a cabinet minister in the government led by Jai Ram Thakur from December 2017 to May 2019.
     Kapoor was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Kangra Parliamentary constituency in 2019 with a record margin of 4.77 lakh votes, which accounted for 72.2 per cent of the total polled votes.
     State Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla called Kapoor a dedicated leader who worked tirelessly for the welfare of the people of Himachal Pradesh.
     "His contribution to the progress of the state will always be remembered," Shukla said. He extended his condolences to the bereaved family and prayed for their strength during this difficult time.
     Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that Kapoor's contributions to the development of the state, especially for the Dharamshala assembly constituency and Kangra parliamentary constituency were immense and will be remembered by the people for a long time.
     He prayed to the almighty to grant peace to the departed soul and strength to the bereaved family members to bear this irreparable loss.
     Expressing grief, Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri said that Kapoor was a visionary leader who served the people of the state with utmost dedication.
     "Kapoor worked selflessly and was entirely committed to the upliftment and welfare of the people, as well as the overall development of the state," he added.
     Former chief ministers Jai Ram Thakur, Shanta Kumar, Prem Kumar Dhumal, Himachal Vidhan Sabha
     Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania, Deputy Speaker Vinay Kumar, state BJP chief Dr Rajiv Bindal, and several other leaders also condoled the death of the departed BJP leader.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)