PANJIM: The last rites of former Goa chief minister Mrs Shashikala Kakodkar were performed on Saturday with full state honours.
Kakodkar (81), the only woman Chief Minister of Goa to date, passed away at her Altinho residence on Friday following a prolonged illness.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, Union AYUSH Minister Sripad Naik, Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar and several former ministers visited Bandodkar House, Kakodkar’s ancestral residence in Altinho.
Others politicians, who paid homage, included MP South Goa Narendra Sawaikar, Benaulim MLA Caetano Silva, former CMs Digambar Kamat, Ravi Naik, Luiseno Faleiro and Francis Sardinha, MLAs Sidharth Kunkolienkar, Pandurang Madkaikar, Naresh Sawal, and leaders Surendra Sirsat and former Union Minster Eduardo Faleiro.
Right from politicians, social activists, industrialists, historians, heads of various religious institutes, educationists and businessmen were part of the crowd who paid their respect to her mortal remains at the Bandodkar House despite being a Diwali holiday on Saturday.
The body of the Goa’s second chief minister was then taken in a procession to St Inez crematorium.
Politicians cutting across the party lines and who’s who of the local business community took part in the procession.
She was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Union Territories of Goa, Daman and Diu in 1973 after the death of her father Dayanand Bandodkar, the first Chief Minister of Goa.
The father-daughter duo belonged to Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP). Kakodkar was ousted as CM in 1979 following a split within her party.
Kakodkar during her stint as state Education minister in the past was responsible for regional languages and no-English educational policy implemented in the government-aided primary schools in Goa.
In the recent years, she was associated with Bharatiya Bhasha Suraksha Manch (BBSM), a front which is agitating for making mother tongues the medium of instruction in primary schools.
Kakodkar, during her stint as education minister, was responsible for promoting no-English educational policy with emphasis on regional languages in the government-aided primary schools in Goa.
