Vajpayee’s ashes to be immersed in Haridwar

19/08/2018

New Delhi/ Lucknow, Aug 18: Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's ashes will be immersed in various rivers across the country, starting with the Ganga at Haridwar tomorrow, the BJP said today.
The immersion ceremony at the holy city tomorrow will be attended by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, his Uttarakhand counterpart Trivendra Singh Rawat, chief ministers of other states and BJP president Amit Shah among others, party leader Bhupender Yadav told reporters in Delhi.
He added that a procession carrying the former prime minister's ashes will start from the Shanti Kunj Ashram in Haridwar, cover a distance of around five kilometres and reach the Har Ki Paurighat for the immersion.
One of the most charismatic leaders in independent India, Vajpayee passed away in Delhi on Thursday at the age of 93. He was cremated with full State honours at the RashtriyaSmritiSthal in the national capital yesterday.
Yadav said an all-party prayer meeting for the BJP stalwart will be held in Delhi on August 20 and another such meeting will be organised in Lucknow on August 23 since Vajpayee's appeal cut across political divide.
Apart from the home minister and Uttar Pradesh chief minister, Vajpayee's relatives will attend the Lucknow prayer meeting, he said, adding that the former prime minister's ashes will also be immersed in the Gomati river there. The prayer meeting in Delhi will be attended by leaders from different political parties and noted citizens, Yadav said.
"His (Vajpayee's) ashes will be immersed in various sacred rivers across the country and the 'asthikalash' taken to all the districts headquarters and state capitals. Prayer meetings will take place in the state capitals, district headquarters and at the panchayat level," he added.
The Uttar Pradesh government said Vajpayee's ashes will arrive at the Lucknow airport tomorrow evening.
"The ashes of former prime minister AtalBihari Vajpayee will arrive at the Lucknow airport tomorrow at around 4 pm. It shall be escorted in a cavalcade to the Uttar Pradesh BJP headquarters," a spokesperson of the Uttar Pradesh government said.
Meanwhile, the saffron party also expressed solidarity with the people of Kerala, who are bearing the brunt of torrential rains and floods, and said its workers will visit every household in the affected areas of the southern states as a part of the rehabilitation measures.
BJP national secretary P MuralidharRao said the state units of the party were collecting relief materials from across the country, while the units in the neighbouring states of Kerala were planning to send doctors' teams to the flood-hit state.
"The BJP is with the people of Kerala," he told reporters in Delhi, adding that Prime Minister NarendraModi and the home minister had already announced an assistance of Rs 500 crore and Rs 100 crore respectively.
The prime minister, Rao said, had also appealed to the insurance companies to expedite the disbursement of compensations, including those towards crop insurance.

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