M Venkaiah Naidu condoles demise of Vinod Khanna

M Venkaiah Naidu

New Delhi: Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday condoled the passing away of the veteran actor and BJP MP Vinod Khanna, saying the void he left in Indian cinema will be difficult to fill.

"I am deeply saddened by the passing away of a great film personality and Member of Parliament (from Gurdaspur, Punjab) Vinod Khanna. I am shocked at his untimely death. May his soul rest in peace," Naidu said in a condolence message.

Khanna had been associated with BJP for the past twenty years. He was also Union minister during Atal Bihari Vajpayee's government, Naidu noted.

"His death is a great loss to the party and to the people of Gurdaspur. I pray to God to give strength to his family members to overcome this irreparable loss," he said.

The Information and Broadcasting Minister said Khanna's contributions to the Indian cinema is tremendous and it will be very difficult to fill the void caused by his untimely death.

Khanna's movies were widely acclaimed and accepted by a huge fan following, he added.

People will always remember his performances in movies such as Mere Apne, Mera Gaon Mera Desh, Jail Yatra, Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, Inkaar, Amar Akbar Anthony, Rajput, Qurbani, Kudrat and Dayavan, the minister said.

Khanna, 70, died of cancer at a Mumbai hospital today. He was four-time MP from Gurdaspur.