Former Union minister and BJP veteran Kashiram Rana,who recently quit the party to join Keshubhai Patels fledgling Gujarat Parivartan Party,died of cardiac arrest in Ahmedabad early Friday morning. He was 74. He is survived by two sons and four daughters. His wife Pushpa had died in 1997. Later in the day,his body was taken to his residence in Surat,where CM Narendra Modi rushed to pay his condolences,spending there over an hour in the company of his own rivals like Keshubhai,Suresh Mehta and Gordhan Zadaphia. VHP leader Praveen Togadia was also present. The cremation took place later in the evening. Rana was on a poll campaign tour when he experienced severe chest pain while taking a night halt at a circuit house in Ahmedabad. The leader was rushed to the civil hospital in the city,where he passed away at 1.30 am. Rana,who was the textiles minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government,had been a Lok Sabha member from Surat for five consecutive terms since 1989. After being sidelined by Modi over the years,Rana recently joined hands with Keshubhai,the former BJP Former minister Kashiram Rana dies of heart attack stalwart who has floated GPP while vowing to oust Modi. Ranas personal secretary Vasant Patel said that while he was carrying the body in an ambulance to Surat,Modi called him around 7 am and inquired about how it all happened. He told me he would be coming to Surat to attend the funeral, Patel told The Indian Express. Rana had addressed his last public meeting at Bhuj on August 29. He was to attend a GPP meeting scheduled in Ahmedabad for Friday. We reached the circuit house at 8.45 pm on Thursday. We shared tea in his room and discussed the helicopter crash. A reporter turned up for an interview. They both later went out for snacks and returned at 11 pm after which Rana retired to bed. Around midnight,Kashiram developed severe pain in heart and called me. Our driver Laxman was with me. We saw him sweating and immediately called 108 (ambulance service). We took him to civil hospital where he was declared dead at 1.30 am, Vasant Patel said.
