Indore: Thousands of people came out of their houses and lined up alongside roads to have a glimpse of mortal remains of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, which were brought to the city on Thursday evening. Politicians, government employees, businessmen and commoners queued up on roads to pay homage to Vajpayee who died on August 16 after prolonged illness at the age of 93.
Mortal remains of Vajpayee were dispersed from Lucknow for immersion at 10 different locations in the country. A portion of his remains reached the city via Bhopal on Thursday. Mortal remains kept on a chariot entered the city at 6 pm from Dewas Naka. National BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, state BJP general secretary Bansilal Gurjar, minister Paras Jain and Indore-1 MLA Sudarshan Gupta were aboard the chariot.
City BJP president Gopi Nema, Indore-2 MLA Ramesh Mendola, senior BJP leader Kailash Sharma and others reached Dewas Naka to pay floral tributes. Nema and Mendola got on to chariot, which then moved towards Vijay Nagar and then to LIG area.
At LIG Square, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, mayor Malini Gaud, Vajpayee’s niece Mala Tiwari and MP Housing Board chairman Krishna Murari Moghe and other leaders paid tributes. Vajpayee’s niece Tiwari also boarded the chariot, which then moved to Patinipura Square.
The chariot passed through Malwa Mills Square, Rajkumar Bridge, Chikmangalur Square, Jail Road, Khatipura, Krishnapura Chhatri, Rajwada, Gopal Mandir, Shakkar Bazaar, Gorakund Square, Malharganj, Jinsi, Qila Maidan and Banganga before leaving for Ujjain.
Women and youths
Women and youths were also present in large numbers to pay respect to the departed soul. The crowd so thick that heavy traffic jams occurred from wherever the chariot passed. Traffic in BRTS corridor came to standstill for nearly an hour.