When Krishan Kant left his office in Parliament House on Friday evening after conducting the day's sitting of the Rajya Sabha in his trademark evenhanded, dignified fashion, none of the members must have even imagined that they would never see their chairman again.
A massive heart attack on Saturday morning ended the long and eventful career of the one-time Young Turk, during which he went from being one of Indira Gandhi's confidants to her opponent and thence to semi-oblivion before being thrust back on the national centrestage as vice-president in 1997. In fact, he was close to being elevated to the country's highest office before opposition from a section of the Bharatiya Janata Party put paid to his chances. Some of his close friends believe that Krishan Kant did not take that setback too well.
Krishan Kant kept a low public profile in his constitutional roles of, first, governor of Andhra Pradesh and then vice-president of India. But those who had to deal with him were always impressed with his elegant and proper approach to his job.
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