Garhwal Post Bureau
Haridwar, 18 May: The ashes of Puran Chand Joshi, the late husband of senior BJP leader and former Member of Parliament Rita Bahuguna Joshi, were immersed in the Ganga at the VIP ghat in Haridwar today. Rita Bahuguna Joshi, accompanied by family members, performed the rituals with full Vedic traditions and religious rites. The ceremony was attended by several political, religious and social figures who paid homage to PC Joshi and prayed for peace to the departed soul.
The rites were conducted by the family’s hereditary priests, with Rajiv Vashisth, Uma Shankar Vashisth, Shrey Vashisth, Sanjay Vashisth, Abhishek Vashisth and Brijesh Vashisth performing the rituals. Shrey Vashisth, the family’s priest, informed that Joshi’s son Mayank Joshi had brought the ashes to Haridwar. Amid chanting of mantras and Ganga worship, the ashes were consigned to the holy river, with prayers that Mother Ganga grant solace to the bereaved family and peace to the departed soul.
It may be recalled that PC Joshi passed away recently at a hospital in Lucknow after a prolonged illness. His demise was widely mourned across political and social circles. Madan Kaushik described the demise of PC Joshi as an irreparable loss to the family and prayed that Mother Ganga grant peace to the departed soul and strength to the family to bear the grief. The solemn ceremony at Haridwar reflected the collective respect and prayers of political leaders, saints and citizens for the departed.
A large number of dignitaries including cabinet ministers, BJP leaders as well as leaders from Congress were present on the occasion. Among those present on the occasion included Rita Bahuguna Joshi, her nephew and Uttarakhand Cabinet Minister Saurabh Bahuguna, her brother and former Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Vijay Bahuguna, Cabinet Ministers Subodh Uniyal, Madan Kaushik and Pradeep Batra, MLA Adesh Chauhan, Congress leaders, Sanjay Paliwal and Brahmaswaroop Brahmachari, Mahamandaleshwar Lalitanand Giri and Ujjwal Pandit, as well as Jaipal Singh Chauhan and Shobharam Prajapati among others.
