Atal Bihari Vajpayee's ashes to be immersed in 100 rivers across India
Ceremony to start from Haridwar today.
New Delhi: Ashes of BJP patriarch and former prime minster Atal Bihari Vajpayee will be immersed in 100 rivers across the country, including in Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Odisha, West Bengal, Punjab, Telangana. The immersion ceremony will start with the Ganga at Haridwar on Sunday.
The immersion ceremony at the holy city will be attended by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, his Uttarakhand counterpart Trivendra Singh Rawat among others.
The Bharat Ratna awardee and one of the most charismatic leaders in independent India, Vajpayee passed away on Thursday at the age of 93. He was cremated with full State honours at the Rashtriya Smriti Sthal in the national capital on Friday.
An all-party prayer meeting for the BJP stalwart will be held in the national capital on August 20 and another such meeting will be organised in Lucknow on August 23 since Vajpayee’s appeal cut across political divide.
“His (Vajpayee’s) ashes will be immersed in various sacred rivers across the country and the ‘asthi kalash’ 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,” said BJP national general secretary Bhupendra Yadav.