New Delhi: Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was cremated with full state honours at Smriti Sthal on the banks of the Yamuna in Delhi on Friday. Namita Bhattacharya (adopted daughter ) lit the funeral pyre amidst gun salute.
Vajpayee, died here at AIIMS, breathed his last at 5:05 pm on Thursday, he was 93.
PM Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah were walking alongside the funeral casket. Top dignitaries from SAARC nations are attending last rites of the former Prime Minister. Bhutanese King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Bangladesh Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali arrived in Delhi earlier in the day to pay their last respects.
Sri Lanka’s Acting Foreign Minister Lakshman Kiriella, Nepal’s Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali, Pakistan’s acting information minister Syed Zafar Ali and a senior minister from Afghanistan are also expected to arrive later today to pay their respects to Vajpayee.
A Public holiday on Friday has been declared in Jharkhand and Uttarakhand to mourn the demise of former PM while seven-day state mourning on Friday has been declared by Bihar as well as Jharkhand Government.
