Gandhinagar/Ahmedabad, June 11 (IANS) Nearly a year after former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani died in the Air India AI-171 crash, state Health Minister Praful Pansheriya has described the late Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader as a widely respected public figure whose loss continues to be felt across the state, particularly in Rajkot and the Saurashtra region.

Rupani was among those killed when the London-bound Air India flight crashed shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad on June 12 last year.

The disaster claimed 260 lives, including passengers, crew and people on the ground.

Speaking to IANS before the first anniversary, Pansheriya recalled learning of the crash while attending a programme in Surat.

“I was the Education Minister then. I was attending a programme in Surat when we saw this news going viral on social media,” he said.

He added, “We immediately came to know that our senior BJP leader Vijaybhai was also on board.”

Pansheriya said the confirmation that there were no survivors on the aircraft deepened the shock.

“Hearing that after the entire plane had crashed no one had survived was another tragic aspect of the incident. It caused immense sorrow,” he told IANS.

Reflecting on his association with Rupani, Pansheriya said he had worked alongside him both in government and within the BJP organisation.

“When he was Chief Minister, and even before that, I worked with him. He was also my senior leader in the organisation. From his early years until the time of the accident, he was regarded as an ideal political leader dedicated to public service and public life,” he noted.

He described Rupani as a leader who valued personal relationships and organisational discipline.

“He always engaged with people, treated everyone in the organisation with respect and was a very good leader. Even today, we have not been able to forget him,” he said.

The minister said Rupani’s work in Rajkot and across Saurashtra remained fresh in public memory. “The work he carried out in Rajkot and across the Saurashtra region is still remembered by people today,” he said.

After DNA identification procedures were completed, Rupani’s mortal remains were taken to Rajkot, where thousands of residents lined the streets to pay their respects.

His funeral was conducted with full state honours and attended by senior political leaders, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel.

He referred to the scale of public participation during the final journey. “When his funeral procession took place in Rajkot, the entire city came out to pay tribute. That reflected his popularity and the work he had done,” he said.

As Gujarat prepares to observe the first anniversary of the crash, he said memories of both the disaster and Rupani’s death remain vivid.

“The tragedy still causes immense pain. Even today, while speaking about it, I find it difficult to watch images of the plane falling and the flames erupting from it,” he told IANS.

For party and people in Gujarat, the anniversary will mark not only a year since one of the state’s worst aviation disasters, but also a year since the loss of a former chief minister whose political career spanned decades of public life.

–IANS

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