By IANS
New Delhi : Former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) vice president J.P. Mathur died here early Saturday of a protracted terminal illness. He was 86.
Mathur, who was a bachelor, was also a former member of the Rajya Sabha.
He used to live in the bachelors’ quarters next to the BJP headquarters at 9, Ashoka Road, since the BJP shot into prominence in the late 1980s.
His body was kept in state at the party office and there was a steady stream of BJP members and leaders who arrived to pay their homage Saturday morning.
His cremation would be held at the Lodhi Road crematorium Saturday afternoon.
Mathur, who had once shared accommodation in the party office during the early Jana Sangh days with Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani and another former leader Sunder Singh Bhandari, was considered close to Advani.
He would often relate anecdotes of how he, Advani and Bhandari spent their time together during the early days of Jana Sangh.
He shot into prominence after Advani became the BJP president in 1986.
Mathur, who was very popular with the media, used to often tell reporters that he started off in politics as a Royist (a follower of M.N. Roy).