New Delhi: The fatherly figure who was held in high esteem during his tenure in politics as well as while being three-time Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee was cremated on Friday evening at Smriti Sthal located in New Delhi.

 

The ceremony was led by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the nation mourned the loss of the veteran politician. During the cremation, Vajpayee’s foster family gathered in deep grief amid a 21-gun salute was fired.

Several priests were present to supervise the last rites as thousands of mourners shouted “Jab tak suraj chand rahega, Atal tera naam rahega” as soon as the Army gun carriage carrying the former Prime Minister’s body reached the cremating site of Smriti Sthal all along the way from BJP headquarters. Prime Minister Modi, BJP Chief Amit Shah and many other senior leaders from the party walked all along the way to cremating ground.

The common citizens who adored the politician first turned up at Krishna Menon Marg residence of Vajpayee from Thursday night and on Friday morning. The BJP office at the Metro station at ITO saw a stream of mourners who came to catch a glimpse of the dead body of former PM.

Vajpayee’s foster granddaughter, Niharika was unable to bear the scene of Vajpayee on cremation while the weather was humid in the city of Delhi. The timing of the leader’s cremation was just after 4.30 pm and once the VIPs left the seats, hundreds of people came in the front side of the pyre and stood folding their hands in tribute.

The place assigned for the dignitaries saw chief ministers and many other leaders. President Ram Nath Kovind, vice-president M Venkaiah Naidu, L K Advani, Modi, Mohan Bhagwat of RSS and speaker for Lok Sabha Sumitra Mahajan too were present. The funeral was attended by opposition party leaders like Former PM Manmohan Singh and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi.

“Atalji, you will live on in the hearts and minds of every Indian. No words can ever do justice to your rich contribution towards the making of our country”, Modi said in a tweet after the funeral was over.

The funeral was also attended by many foreign Dignitaries from neighboring countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Pakistan. It was a great loss for all of them due to the death of Vajpayee.

You May Also Read: To Counter Jio GigaFiber, Airtel Offers Unlimited Broadband Data Plans For More Cities