Former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala was accorded state honour ahead of his last rites. His mortal remains were kept at the family’s Teja Khera farmhouse in Sirsa on Saturday ahead of his last rites so that people could pay their respects to the leader, the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) said.
An INLD leader said that the state funeral will be held at 3 pm in the Teja Khera village. Chautala died in Gurugram on Friday at the age of 89.
Among other dignitaries, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar will be attending Chautala's last rites. Om Prakash Chautala's younger son Abhay Singh Chautala, an INLD leader, elder son Ajay Singh Chautala, who heads the JJP party, and other family members, including former deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala, were present in Teja Khera.
Congress leaders Randeep Singh Surjewala and Kumari Selja also reached the Chautala farmhouse to pay their last respects to the five-time chief minister. People have also gathered in the village in large numbers.
The Haryana government declared a three-day state mourning on Friday. It has also declared Saturday a public holiday in all its offices as a mark of respect.
Chautala, who was former deputy prime minister Devi Lal's son, suffered a cardiac arrest at his house here and was immediately rushed to a hospital but could not be saved, a party spokesperson told PTI. He breathed his last around noon in Medanta Hospital.
INLD spokesperson said Chautala had hiccups in the morning and collapsed in his house. He was rushed to a hospital, where he died.
Om Prakash Chautala, a prominent Jat leader and former Haryana chief minister whose career was marked by dizzying highs and rock bottom lows, including stints in jail, died on Friday. He was 89.
He is survived by two sons and three daughters. His wife Sneh Lata passed away over five years ago.