VC Shukla to be cremated at his farm house at Raipur

The mortal remains of veteran Congressman Vidya Charan Shukla would be consigned to flames at his farm house on the outskirts of the city tomorrow, family sources said.

He liked to spend time at his picturesque farm house at Labhandi village near here and wished to be cremated at the farm house itself, they said.

"He had built a platform on the back side of the farmhouse and told us that his final rites should be performed at the same platform. We will follow his last wish," Kunal Shukla, a close relative of VC Shukla told PTI.

"Spread over an area of around 40 acres, Shukla's farm house was named after his Guru Radheshyam. He usually stayed at the farm house. He also wished that on that platform, religious programmes should also be held from time to time after his cremation," Kunal Shukla said.

Vidya Charan Shukla, a former Union minister, died today at a Gurgaon hospital after battling injuries sustained in a deadly Naxal attack on a convoy of party leaders on May 25.

Meanwhile, spokesperson of Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee Shailesh Nitin Trivedi said that his body would be airlifted to Raipur tonight.

"His body will be kept at Congress Bhawan on Wednesday morning where people will be able to pay their tributes. Later, it would be taken to his parental house at Budhapara from where the funeral procession will start and the final rites will be performed at his farm house," Trivedi said.

According to sources, his wife Sarla Shukla and three daughters were reaching Raipur by a charter plane.