Himachal: Former Kangra BJP MP Kishan Kapoor passes away at 73

Former Kangra BJP MP Kishan Kapoor passed away at Post-Graduate Institute Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) in Chandigarh on Saturday morning.

He was 73. Family sources said Kapoor was undergoing treatment for a renal ailment.

The last rites would be performed on Sunday at his native village in Dharamshala. 

The news of his death was shared by Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Sudhir Sharma on social media. He described the senior party leader’s death as an irreparable loss to society and politics.

Hailing from the Gaddi community, Kapoor won the 2019 general election from Kangra by 4.77 lakh votes, the second largest voting percentage at 72.2% all over the country.

Kapoor was a five-time MLA and served as a state minister twice. He represented Dharamshala assembly constituency and was the food, civil supplies and consumer affairs minister in the Himachal Pradesh government.

Kapoor became a member of Jan Sangh in 1970 and after the formation of the BJP in 1980, he became the party’s Dharamshala mandal president in 1982. He became an MLA for the first time in 1990 and was elected to the assembly for the second time in 1993. He was the chief whip of the party in the assembly and was also the president of the Kangra district unit from 1995-97.

Paying tributes, BJP national president and Union health and family welfare minister Jagat Prakash Nadda said that Kapoor was a soft-spoken, sociable and a visionary leader. He had a close relationship with him and he also had the opportunity to work with him in the assembly. He described Kapoor’s death as a personal and an irreparable loss. 

Leader of opposition and former chief minister Jai Ram Thakur mourned Kapoor’s death as extremely sad. “The BJP family has lost a big leader. This loss is impossible to compensate. Kishan ji played an important role as a minister in the development of the state and the welfare of the people. His contribution will always be remembered. May God give peace to the departed soul and strength to the bereaved family to bear this grief,” he posted on social media.