Kashag Mourns Hegde’s Demise
Ramakrishna Hegde |
Dharamsala, 13 January 2004: The Central Tibetan Administration today expressed its condolences to the bereaved family of Mr. Ramakrishna Hegde who breathed his last yesterday.
In a letter addressed to Ms. Shakuntala Hegde, Kalon Tripa Prof Samdhong Rinpoche wrote, “My colleagues in the Kashag and I heard the sad news of the passing away of your husband and we convey our deep condolence. We offer our prayers and join you and your family and the rest of India in this time of sorrow and loss”.
The Kalon Tripa termed Mr. Hegde’s demise as a loss to India of a great leader and to the Tibetans, a steadfast friend.
The Kashag has sent instructions to the chief representative’s office of the southern settlements, Bangalore, to ‘personally convey the gratitude of the Tibetan exile community in India and offer our respects to the memory of a great Indian leader’.
Veteran politician and former Karnataka chief minister twice, Ramakrishna Hegde who left a stamp of his own in Indian politics, died at his residence in Bangalore. Hegde was also the minister for commerce in the Vajpayee government when his erstwhile party Lok Shakti was a constituent of the National Democratic Alliance.
He also served as deputy chairman of the Planning Commission when Mr. V P Singh was the prime minister.
Nijalingappa, the man behind making Karnataka a home to the largest number of Tibetans in India, was his mentor in politics.
Hegde had also served as Rajya Sabha member. He is survived by his wife, Ms Shakuntala, a son and two daughters. He was 76.