Former Union Minister Kabindra Purkayastha’s Funeral With Full State Honours In Silchar Tomorrow: Kaushik Rai

The last rites of veteran BJP leader and former Union Minister Kabindra Purkayastha will be performed with full state honours on January 8, 2026 (Thursday). His cremation is scheduled to take place at 3:00 pm at the Silchar Smashan Ghat.

In view of his demise, all state-level programmes of the Bharatiya Janata Party scheduled for today and tomorrow have been cancelled, informed Assam Minister Kaushik Rai.

Speaking to the media, Rai said, “Former MP and Union Minister Kabindra Purkayastha breathed his last today at 5:06 pm and was declared dead by the authorities at Silchar Medical College and Hospital. He had been undergoing treatment there for several days.”

He added that Purkayastha’s mortal remains will be kept at the BJP party office at 9:00 am on January 8, following which they will be taken to the Silchar DSA Ground at 9:30 am, where the public can pay their last respects until 12 noon.

“The state government will accord full state honours. We have lost a father figure—someone by holding whose hand we entered politics. All party programmes scheduled for today and tomorrow have been cancelled,” Rai said.

Kabindra Purkayastha’s passing has cast a pall of gloom across Assam, with leaders across party lines paying tribute to one of the tallest political figures of the region.