Gurudas Kamat passes away: Congress leader laid to rest at crematorium he inaugurated exactly nine years ago

Mumbai: In an eerie coincidence, departed Congress leader Gurudas Kamat was cremated at the same facility in Mumbai which he had inaugurated on this day nine years ago. On 23 August, 2009 Kamat inaugurated the renovated Charai crematorium in suburban Chembur, one kilometre away from his residence. He was a Union Minister of State then. The Congress leader died of a heart attack in the national capital on Wednesday. On Thursday, his mortal remains were consigned to flames with full state honours at the same crematorium. [caption id=“attachment_5032631” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Congress leader Gurudas Kamat. PTI[/caption] The plaque at the crematorium’s entrance mentions that he was the chief guest at the inauguration. City-based RTI activist Anil Galgali tweeted a picture of the plaque, pointing out the coincidence. Then local MP Eknath Gaikwad and then state cabinet minister Chandrakant Handore had attended the inauguration. “I remember the day when Gurudas-ji, I and my colleague in Maharashtra government Handore-ji jointly inaugurated the crematorium. No one ever imagined that fate will take a tragic twist and Kamat will be cremated after nine years in the same crematorium on the same date,” Gaikwad said. “He was a man of his word. He had promised to renovate the crematorium and followed it up with every authority. His commitment towards addressing people’s problems was unparallelled,” Gaikwad added.