NEW DELHI: One of the key members of the Jan Sangh, from which the BJP has emerged, Bimala Prasad passed away in Patna on Thursday. She was the wife of late Thakur Prasad, who was the co-founder of Jansangh, and the mother of Union Law and IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.
During the days of Jan Sangh, Bimala Prasad and Thakur Prasad’s home used to serve as the meeting point of Jan Sangh stalwarts including Deendayal Upadhyay, Syama Prasad Mukherjee, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Nanaji Deshmukh, Lal Krishna Advani and senior office bearers of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Her hospitality was something that would bring all these leaders to Patna.
Old timers recalled that Vajpayee and Advani would mingle around with the common people in the house of Thakur Prasad with Bimala without any restrictions.
She is survived by a family of three sons, three daughters and grandchildren. Apart from Ravi Shankar Prasad, who is a Member of Parliament from the Patna Sahib Lok Sabha Constituency ,her youngest daughter, Anuradha Prasad is the CEO of a news channel.
President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Bharatiya Janata Party national president J.P. Nadda, Chief Minister of Bihar Nitish Kumar, both the Deputy Chief Ministers of Bihar, Union Ministers from the state and Sushil Kumar Modi spoke to Ravi Shankar Prasad over telephone to express their condolences.