Former Punjab minister Chaudhary Swarna Ram cremated in Phagwara

Senior BJP leader and former Punjab minister Chaudhary Swarna Ram was cremated with full state honours here on Monday.

Swarna Ram, 83, breathed his last on April 1.

His elder son Mohan Lal Banga, also a former MLA, lit the pyre.

Despite intermittent showers since Monday morning, hundreds of admirers of Swarna Ram, including prominent political leaders cutting across party lines, attended the last rites.

Union minister Som Parkash, Punjab BJP president Ashwani Sharma, Shiromani Akali Dal general secretary Daljit Singh Cheema, former BJP ministers Manoranjan Kalia and Tikshan Sood, and Congress MLA Balwinder Singh Dhaliwal were among those present.

Parkash described Swarna Ram's demise as an irreparable loss to the party as well as Punjab.

Swarna Ram represented Phagwara in the Punjab Assembly twice.

He was the minister for technical education, industrial training and social security in the erstwhile Parkash Singh Badal-led government when the SAD and the BJP were allies.

He was also the state vice president of the BJP.

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