Ex-Gujarat Guv Kamla Beniwal passes away

Veteran Congress leader and former governor of Gujarat Kamla Beniwal died at a private hospital in Jaipur on Wednesday. She was 97.

Beniwal was admitted to the hospital after a brief illness. One of her family members said the funeral will be held on Thursday.

Apart from Gujarat, she also served as governor of Tripura and Mizoram.

A seven-time MLA, Beniwal also remained the deputy chief minister of Rajasthan, apart from holding other positions in the state government and the Congress party.

Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra, Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma, former chief minister Ashok Gehlot and other leaders condoled the demise of Beniwal.

Mishra expressed grief on the demise of Beniwal and prayed for peace to the departed soul.

In a post on X, the chief minister wrote, "The news of the demise of Dr Kamla Beniwal, former governor of Gujarat and former deputy chief minister of Rajasthan, is extremely sad. My condolences are with the bereaved family."

Speaker of Rajasthan assembly Vasudev Devnani said recalled Beniwal was a "good administrator and public representative".

Devnani, in a statement said, the Congress leader participated in India's Independence struggle and had a "long experience in the field of politics".

"Dr Kamla was elected as MLA seven times. She was also the chairperson and member of various committees of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly," he added.

Former chief minister Gehlot said he was deeply shocked by the news of the demise of Beniwal.

"Her personality was multi-faceted and she did exemplary work in every field, apart from politics," he said.

Gehlot said that Beniwal was a senior colleague in his cabinet in his first term as the state's chief minister and he got to learn a lot from her during the period.

"She was an efficient administrator, dynamic speaker and a strong leader. Her commitment and loyalty towards the Congress ideology is an example," he said.

Gehlot added that as the governor of Gujarat, Beniwal further enhanced the dignity of that post by protecting constitutional values.