The Hindu Business Line : Home Minister to represent Cabinet at Sayeed's funeral

THE Home Minister, Mr Shivraj Patil, will represent the Union Cabinet at the funeral of the Power Minister, P.M. Sayeed, which is slated to take place in Lakshadweep on Tuesday.

The Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Mr Priyaranjan Dasmunshi, told presspersons that the body of Sayeed, who died of a heart attack on Sunday, would be brought here tonight and then flown to Lakshadweep on Tuesday morning. The Union Cabinet has already decided to accord a State funeral to him.

Sayeed, one of the country's longest-serving parliamentarians, died in a hospital in Seoul, South Korea, where he had been undergoing treatment for a liver ailment. Both houses of Parliament were adjourned today as a mark of respect. The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, will take charge of the Power Ministry until a replacement is found, Mr Dasmunshi said.

"Sayeed was a valued and respected member of the Cabinet whose wisdom, sagacity and experience was of immense use not only in the power sector, but also in managing the affairs of the Government," the Prime Minister said in a condolence message issued in New Delhi late last night. The Cabinet, which had an emergency meeting this morning, adopted a condolence resolution saying Sayeed was responsible for the formulation of a comprehensive national electricity policy for the country and taking forward the power sector reforms. " Sayeed's deep conviction for rural development led to the formulation of the Rajiv Gandhi Vidyutikaran Yojana aimed at electrification of rural India," it said.

A lawyer by training, Sayeed entered politics early in life, making him the youngest member of the Lok Sabha in 1967. He served as a Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha from 1998 to 2004. The 2004 polls also marked his first defeat in parliamentary elections, after which he was nominated to the Rajya Sabha and made the country's Power Minister.