By IANS,
Nagpur : Matoshri Veenadevi Darda, widow of the late freedom fighter Jawaharlal Darda, died here Thursday after prolonged illness, family sources said.
She was 85 and is survived by two sons, Congress Rajya Sabha Member Vijay Darda and Maharashtra Education Minister Rajendra Darda.
A large number of admirers attended Veenadevi’s cremation which was held in Yavatmal, the Darda family’s ancestral town, around 125 km from here.
Born in the affluent Kundallal Chordia family of Bela village in the district, Veenadevi married Jawaharlal Darda in 1942.
Jawaharlal Darda joined the country’s freedom movement and became an active Congress leader and also founded the Lokmat group of newspapers in the state.
Close to late prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi and other members of India’s premier political family, Jawaharlal Darda served as minister in Maharashtra for several years and was founder-editor of his newspaper group, which has now grown to a state-wide chain in Marathi and English.