A day after his death,veteran socialist and Rajya Sabha member from Samajwadi Party Janeshwar Mishra was today consigned to flames on the bank of Ganga at Sangam in Allahabad amid a guard of honour by the police. His younger brother Tarkeshwar Mishra performed the last rites while Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav led the funeral procession. It is an end of the Lohia era. Janeshwar Mishra was the last great leader of Samajwadi movement launched by Dr Lohia,Jai Prakash,Karpuri Thakur and other leaders. The vacuum created by his death in my personal life as well as in the party will never be filled, said Mulayam,who led the funeral procession that toured the city before reaching Sangam. Leaders cutting across party lines paid rich tributes to the departed leader who was known as Chhote Lohia because of his close association with socialist stalwart late Ram Manohar Lohia. UP Congress president Rita Bahuguna Joshi,AICC vice-president Shekhar Bahuguna,BSPs Ashok Bajpai and Ranjana Bajpai and several local leaders took part in the procession. SP national general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav,Shiv Pal Yadav and Mulayams son Akhilesh were also part of the procession,which started around 1 pm from Mishras Beli Road residence. The funeral took place at 4 pm at Sangam according to Vedic rituals. Though the mood was predictably sombre,thousands of SP supporters and workers who had gathered at Sangam also felt a positive change in their chief after the Amar Singh episode. After decades,I have seen Mulayam acting like a Samajwadi Party worker again,the way he was before Amar Singhs entry into the party. He spent the entire day (Saturday) leading the procession personally and carrying Mishras pyre on his shoulder, said a party leader. Mulayam too said it was time to rediscover socialist values. Janeshwar Mishra was my inner strength. On every party policy,I used to take his advice. His death was a personal loss to me. I took oath today that I would now act like a party worker as Mishraji used to do. There would be a new beginning from today in the party. I also urge the party leaders and supporters to imbibe the quality of a true socialist like Chhote Lohia. His death has reminded me of my responsibility as a socialist. I would again be a party worker like Mishraji and carry on the socialist movement in days to come, said Yadav,while recalling his long association with Mishra. No doubt Netaji (Mulayam) has always been a party worker but today,I felt some changes in him. After a long gap,Netaji took the management of any function (funeral) in his own hand,personally monitoring things. The party workers were really enthused, said Shiv Pal Yadav,the brother of Mulayam.
