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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday condoled the demise of Captain Lakshmi Sahgal. BJP spokesperson Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said Captain Lakshmi Sahgal played an integral part in the freedom movement. "Captain Lakshmi Sahgal was no doubt a great fighter of the country's freedom movement. She not only contributed to the freedom of this country, but also gave a new direction and identity to the political and social structure of this country," said Hussain. "Her death is a matter of great shock for us. I pay my tributes to her," he added. Freedom fighter Captain Lakshmi Sahgal breathed her last in a Kanpur hospital earlier in the day. She was 97. She was in a coma since Wednesday when she had a heart stroke. She was a revolutionist of the Indian independence movement, an officer of the Indian National Army, and the Minister of Women's Affairs in the Azad Hind Government. She was a close aide of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. In 1942, during the surrender of Singapore by the British to the Japanese, Sahgal aided wounded prisoners of war, many of whom who were interested in forming an Indian liberation army. Indian revolutionary Subhas Chandra Bose arrived in Singapore on July 2, 1943. In the next few days, at all his public meetings, 'Netaji' spoke of his determination to raise a women's regiment which would 'fight for Indian Independence and make it complete'. Sahgal joined the new regiment, called the Rani of Jhansi Regiment, and was given the rank of colonel. This women's army unit was the first of its kind in Asia . The army fought on the side of the Axis powers against the British. In 1971, Sahgal joined the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and represented the party in the Rajya Sabha. During the Bangladesh crisis, she organized relief camps and medical aid in Calcutta for refugees who streamed into India from Bangladesh . In 2002, four leftist parties - the Communist Party of India , the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Revolutionary Socialist Party, and the All India Forward Bloc - nominated Sahgal as a candidate in the presidential elections. She was the sole opponent of Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who emerged victorious.

BJP condoles demise of Captain Lakshmi Sahgal