A sea of emotions left many with moist eyes as thousands of people, including Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and a host of VIPs, paid homage to former Chandigarh BJP president Mr Jai Ram Joshi and father of Asst Media Advisor punjab Vineet Joshi, who left for the heavenly abode last week. Referring to Mr Jai Ram Joshi as a source of great inspiration, Chief Minister ML Khattar gave a call to observe this day as ‘Inspiration Day’ to commemorate the goodness, farsightedness and unmatched qualities of Mr Joshi. “He would be remembered as a Yug Purush. His connect with the masses, especially the poor and downtrodden, and his mesmerizing nature made him no less a saint in character and deed,” the Chief Minister said while paying homage to him at the venue in Sector 15 Chandigarh here on Sunday. The CM added that the party often had to rely on the wisdom and maturity of Mr Joshi whenever there was some pergent opinion among party colleagues.
“They use to look at Mr Joshi for the last word since it was sure to be in public interest,” the CM held. Holy bhajans sung by popular groups of spiritual practitioners filled the air with an overpowering sentiment that echoed the message of simple living and devotion dwelling on the theory of Karma. Mr Jai Ram Joshi’s wife, Kusum Joshi, was inconsolable. Mr Joshi, an advocate by profession, was equally adored by Congressmen. Four-time former MP from Chandigarh and Former union minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, said the demise of Mr Joshi has created a vacuum in the society that is hard to fill. “A vital link with the past has been broken. An era has ended. I knew him for four decades. He came across as a man sans human follies like anger and worked selflessly,” Mr Bansal said.
Senior Pracharak of Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh Prem ji Goel depicted Joshi as a true social worker who worked for the down trodden of the society. Union Minister Vijay Sampla said moments of dissatisfaction and dejection would turn into confidence whenever anyone met Mr Joshi. Paying their respect to the departed soul, Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament Avinash Rai Khanna, Former Minister Manoranjan Kalia and MLA Ashwani Sharma said Mr Joshi never asked for anything in return to what he did for the party or the society at large. Citing an incident to illustrate Mr Joshi’s connect with the poor, Mr Khanna said, “Mr Joshi had a case in the Court and his turn to appear before the Court was announced. But the Court was informed that Mr Joshi was not in the court, instead he was laying in-front of a JCB machine to protest the demolition of dwelling units of the poor.
He was a symbol of patience and will be remembered for the works he did for the people.”Those many friends VIP’s who spoke on the occasion expressed immense confidence in Mr Joshi’s two sons- Vineet Joshi, an assistant media advisor of the Punjab Government and Saurabh Joshi, a municipal councilor in Chandigarh- to carry forward the legacy of their father.Actor turned Member of Parliament from Chandigarh Kirron Kher said the respect Mr Joshi commanded can be gauged from the fact that even former MP Mr Bansal spoke his heart out in praise of Mr Joshi. “He was a people’s man, a Gandhi of the poor and needy,” she said.Former MP and senior BJP leader Satya Pal Jain said Mr Joshi was a Messiah of the poor and downtrodden. “It was this great man who brought the BJP to the colonies. The BJP owes its success to Mr Joshi,” he said. Former Punjab BJP President Ashwani Sharma said Mr Joshi would always remain alive in the hearts of people for the work he has done for the party and the society.
Among those who turned up to pay their homage from Punjab included Political advisor CM Punjab Tikshan Sood, Chairman Punjab Infotech Manjit Singh Rai, Chairman Khadi Board Harjit Singh Grewal, Chairman PSIEC Shakti Sharma, Former Minister Master Mohan Lal, Former Minister Dr Baldev Chawla, Former MP Bibi Gurcharan Kaur, MLA Sukhjit Kaur Sahi and Former State president BJP Punjab Brij lal Rinwa. Prominent faces of Chandigarh who paid homage are Mayor Chandigarh Harfool Singh Kalyan, Senior Deputy Mayor Heera Negi, Deputy Mayor Devesh Moudgil, Home secretary UT Anil Kumar, Municipal Commissioner VP Singh, VC PU Prof Arun Grover, Former Mayor and Councilor Harjinder Kaur, Pradeep Chabra, Subhash Chawla, Rajbala Malik, Former Mayor Kamla Sharma, Kewal Krishan Adiwal, Ravinder Singh Pali, Anu Chatarth, Councilor Arun Sood, Sat Prakash Aggarwal, Deas raj Gupta, Rajesh Bittu, Asha Jaiswal, Rajinder Kaur Rattu, Poonam Sharma, Satish Kainth, Darshan Kumar Garg, Mukesh Bassi, MP Kohli, Sat Paul Bansla, Surinder Bagha, Major DS Sandhu and Anup Sunny Gill.
Prominent faces of Haryana who paid homage are MLA Panchkula Gian Chand Gupta, Advocate General Haryana Baldev Raj Mahajan Media Advisor CM Haryana Amit Arya and OSD CM Haryana Jawhar Yadav. National leaders of social organizations included National President of ABVP Nagesh Thakur, National Organising secretary of Rashtriya Sikh Sangat Avinash Jaiswal, National Co-Convenor of Hindu Jagran Manch Kamlesh Singh and President Sewa Bharti Chandigarh Pradeep Sharma also paid homage to Joshi.