Former Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, was cremated in Delhi on Friday. The 93 year old politician who was Prime Minister of India for three terms, died yesterday after prolonged illness.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among those who walked the procession that left from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) office to Rashtriya Smriti Sthal, where the cremation took place.
Thousands of people came to pay their respect as the body lay on a decorated gun carriage. The glass coffin was draped in the national flag.
The body was kept overnight at his home on Krishna Menon Marg and taken to the BJP office this morning.
Among those who paid their respects were PM Modi, President Ram Nath Kovind, former President Pranab Mukherjee, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and former deputy Prime Minister LK Advani.
Several foreign dignitaries attended the funeral. Among them were King of Bhutan Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk, Nepal’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali Bangladesh Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, Sri Lanka’s acting Foreign Minister Lakshman Kiriella among others.
PM Modi has said that it is “the end of an era” and that he felt like he had lost a father. “For me, personally, it is like losing a father… Whenever he met me, he used to embrace me like a father. He was a leader, orator, journalist, statesman and more than anything a true son of India…” he said in a video message.
The government has announced a seven-day national mourning, with schools and offices in many states shut today.
Vajpayee was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on June 11 with several complications. His condition deteriorated on August 15.
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