WATCH LIVE Streaming – Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s final rites, cremation: Schoolchildren pay tribute to the former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee at a school in Jammu on Friday, Aug 17, 2018. (PTI Photo)
Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s cortege has left the BJP’s headquarters for Rashtriya Smriti Sthal for the last rites of the poet-politician. Thousands of mourners jostled for space to capture the moment on their phones to pay homage to the BJP patriarch. Follow | Atal Bihari Vajpayee funeral LIVE
The 93-year-old passed away at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi last evening after prolonged illness. The final rites will be performed at the Smriti Sthal on the banks of the Yamuna in Delhi.
Inside the BJP headquarters, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah and a host of ministers and party workers paid their last respects to the late leader, mourned by them and the opposition as one of India’s tallest leaders.
WATCH LIVE STREAMING – ATAL BIHARI VAJPAYEE FINAL RITES, CREMATION
Draped in tricolor, Vajpayee’s body was placed on a platform draped in white flowers. Bhutanese King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Bangladesh Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali were among the foreign dignitaries who arrived here to pay their last respects to the former prime minister. Opposition leaders like CPI’s D Raja and CPI(M)’s Sitaram Yechury were among those who visited the BJP headquarters to pay their respects.
The funeral procession will go through Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, Delhi Gate, Netaji Subhash Marg, Nishadraj Marg and Shanti van before reaching Smriti Sthal, Delhi Traffic Police said in a tweet.
Seen as a moderate face of BJP, Vajpayee first became prime minister in 1996, leading a shaky coalition whose members were suspicious of the BJP’s right-wing politics. It lasted for 13 days and collapsed after losing a vote of no-confidence. His second stint as prime minister was in 1998 when the National Democratic Alliance again came to power but that lasted for just 13 months. Finally, the NDA with Vajpayee as PM returned to power in 1999 and was voted out in 2004.