Rohtak, February 2
The mortal remains of Chaudhary Ranbir Singh Hooda (94), a member of the Constituent Assembly of India and father of Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, were consigned to the flames this evening with full state honours.

He had died here yesterday after a prolonged illness.

The pyre was lit by Inder Singh Hooda, the eldest son of Chaudhary Ranbir Singh. A salute was given by a team of Haryana Police. The Chief Minister’s younger brother, Dharmender Hooda, and son Deepender Singh Hooda, MP from Rohtak, besides a large number of dignitaries and local residents attended the funeral.

The Haryana government has decided to construct a national memorial to Chaudhary Ranbir Singh.

Those who paid tributes to the departed soul at the Model Town residence of the Chief Minister included Haryana Governor AR Kidwai, AICC general secretary Janardhan Dwivedi, in charge of the Haryana Congress affairs Moti Lal Vora, Chief Minister of Rajasthan Ashok Gehlot, HPCC president Phool Chand Mullana, working president Kuldeep Sharma, Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Selja and Union Minister of State for Defence Production Rao Inderjeet Singh, Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma, Union Minister of State from Home JS Jaiswal, the Army chief, Gen Deepak Kapoor, Haryana Finance Minister Birender Singh, Agriculture Minister HS Chatha, Education Minister Mange Ram Gupta, Health Minister Kartar Devi, Power Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala, Minister of State for Revenue Savitri Jindal and former Governor Sultan Singh.

Thousands of people converged on the residence of the Chief Minister to pay their homage. All educational institutions, shops and commercial establishments in the town remained closed as a mark of respect to the departed Gandhian and veteran parliamentarian. Some hospitals and private clinics also remained close.

The body of Chaudhary Ranbir Singh, who breathed his last around 5 pm yesterday, was kept for “public darshan” at the residence of the Chief Minister here since early this morning. The body was taken in a flower-bedecked hearse to the cremation site at about 2 pm. The cremation took place near at the IMT near Kheri Sadh village here.
The Secretary General of the National Khadi & Village Industries Board's Employees Federation Naresh Kadyan lit a candle series on the internet to pay kind tribute to the departed soul, the International community also comes forward to mark respect to Late Ch. Ranbir Singh Hooda. You also can lit a candle here, just click - http://www.gratefulness.org/candles/view.cfm?l=eng&c=7696378