Former Gujarat governer Naval Kishore Sharma no more

Former Gujarat governor and veteran Congress leader, Naval Kishore Sharma passed away in Jaipur late on Monday night after prolonged illness. He was 87.

A five-time Member of Parliament (MP) and former union minister, Sharma was admitted to a private hospital in Jaipur a few days ago in the wake of respiratory problems. He breathed his last late on Monday night. He is survived by two sons, one of whom is a minister in the Rajasthan government.

Born on July 5, 1925 at Dausa in Rajasthan, Sharma occupied several important posts during a political career spanning over 50 years, before his appointment as the governor of Gujarat. He had served as governor of Gujarat from July 2004 to July 2009.

Sharma shared a good equation with chief minister Narendra Modi, and there wasn’t much friction between the Raj Bhavan and the state government in the five-year period.

However, it was Sharma who had returned the controversial Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Bill of 2006, which proposed to allow conversions among followers of different sects of the same faith. The state government had pressed hard for the bill to be made into a law, but Sharma did not budge from his stand.

Governor Dr Kamla expressed shock at Sharma’s death, saying the country has lost a patriot, an able administrator and a veteran politician. CM Narendra Modi described him as a true Gandhian. He said that Sharma’s death was a big loss for him individually.
Modi is slated to travel to Jaipur on Wednesday to meet the bereaved family members.

Congress leaders Ahmed Patel, Arjun Modhwadia, Shaktisinh Gohil, Shankarsinh Vaghela, and others also condoled Sharma’s death.

Meanwhile, mortal remains of the former governor were consigned to flames with full state honours in Jaipur in the presence of Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot and a host of other political leaders.