Lucknow bids adieu to Vajpayee as his ashes are immersed in the Gomti river

Thousands of people gathered in Lucknow on Thursday as former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s ashes were immersed in the Gomti river here. The ashes in a kalash (urn) were carried in a procession from the Lucknow airport to the river banks, 22 kilometres away, for their immersion.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has organised Vajpayee’s asthi kalash processions across the country to pay homage to the late former Prime Minister, who passed away in Delhi on August 16. Vajpayee’s ashes would be immersed in rivers elsewhere in Uttar Pradesh on Friday and Saturday.

Earlier, Union home minister Rajnath Singh and Uttar Pradesh BJP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey brought Vajpayee’s ashes to Lucknow. Vajpayee represented Lucknow in Parliament five times. Uttar Pradesh governor Ram Naik, chief minister Yogi Adityanath, his deputies, Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma, were part of the procession. A ceremonial guard of honour was earlier presented at the airport. Samajwadi Party patron Mulayam Singh Yadav and Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Raj Babbar were among top Opposition politicians, who attended a prayer meeting for Vajpayee on the Gomti banks.

“This is not just a BJP function. It is an all-party event. Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the ajatshatru (without enemies) of Indian politics… he had friends across all parties and groups. And it shows,” said Chandramohan, a BJP office-bearer. “Dekho aasmaan bhi ro pada (look even the gods are grieving),” said Lucknow resident Satbir Singh.

First Published: Aug 23, 2018 23:33 IST