Balwant Kumar Nehru, nephew of the architect of modern India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, and the senior most member of the Nehru clan, passed away at Kasuli in Himachal Pradesh on Wednesday after a protracted illness. The end of the 92- year-old distinguished diplomat and former governor of Jammu and Kashmir and Gujarat came as the country observed the 17th death anniversary of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
In his last years, he had preferred to keep away from the public gaze, in his desire to make the younger generation understand the real Jawaharlal Nehru and the relevance of his thoughts and ideals today.
A member of the Indian Civil Service (ICS)and a Padma Bhushan awardee, Nehru is survived by his wife and two children.
Condoling the death of Nehru, the All India Congress Committee said his contribution would be remembered by the country in the present testing times. Congress President Sonia Gandhi will be attending the funeral, AICC sources said.
B K Nehru, Indira Gandhi's cousin, was governor of Jammu and Kashmir when the Prime Minister decided that she wanted to get rid of chief minister Farooq Abdullah in the autumn of 1983. She disliked Abdullah so much that she even supported the chief minister's brother-in-law G M Shah in a palace coup.
Bureau Report