Guwahati: The Northeast on Friday mourned the passing away of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who was seen by most as being responsible for pushing the region towards the path of all-round development.
Like elsewhere in the country, an overall sense of grief gripped the region following the demise of "a popular leader, a statesman and a political stalwart" who was credited with setting up of the ministry of Development of North-Eastern Region to ensure all-round development of the region, besides the mega highway project - the East-West corridor - connecting Assam's Silchar to Gujarat's Porbandar.
There were less vehicles and people on the streets of the seven capitals because of the holiday declared by the state governments as a mark of respect to the departed leader. Most shops remained closed during the day. The Tricolour was flown at half-mast in all government offices and important establishments.
Pallab Mahanta, a cab driver, summed up the mood and the love Vajpayee enjoyed in the region: "Business establishments were closed during the day and it was spontaneous," he said.
Five of the seven chief ministers from the region - Assam's Sarbananda Sonowal, Arunachal Pradesh's Pema Khandu, Tripura's Biplab Kumar Deb, Manipur's N. Biren Singh and Nagaland's Neiphiu Rio attended Vajpayee's last rites in Delhi.
Meghalaya was represented by its home minister James Sangma. The chief minister of Congress-ruled Mizoram could not attend but as a mark of respect, the state government had declared a public holiday and paid glowing tributes to the "statesman".
Tributes were paid to the departed leader at all district and mandal offices of the BJP in Assam on Friday morning. Condolence meetings were also held at the party's district offices in the evening with party members, supporters and admirers paying tribute by lighting earthen lamps.
The party flag at the AGP headquarters at Ambari in Guwahati flew at half-mast on Friday as a mark of respect. The AGP is a coalition partner of the BJP-led government in Assam.
In Itanagar, shops and business establishments, restaurants and even wayside tea stalls, cinemas and theatres remained shut while public and private functions were called off or postponed. Condolence meetings were held at the BJP and Opposition Congress party headquarters, among others.
"It was an irreplaceable loss for the entire nation. Vajpayee selflessly dedicated his entire life towards the development of the country. Under his leadership the BJP grew stunningly across the country. He optimises the utilisation of the 10 per cent compulsory allotment of budgetary funds of the non-lapsable central pool of resources (NLCPR)," the Tripura chief minister said in a statement.
