Leaders, officials pay tribute to Suvra Mukherjee

Scores of people -- leaders of political parties, government and military officials as well as commoners -- gathered at 13, Talkatora Road here to pay tribute to India's first lady Suvra Mukherjee who died on Tuesday.

The mortal remains of the 74-year-old wife of President Pranab Mukherjee arrived in a hearse van at her parliamentarian son Abhijit Mukherjee's bungalow in Lutyen's Delhi around 6.30 p.m.

Before he moved to Rashtrapati Bhavan, President Pranab Mukherjee and Suvra Mukherjee stayed at 13, Talkatora Road throughout his career as a cabinet minister, even though the government accommodation was below his entitlement.

The reason was that the Mukherjee family considered the bungalow auspicious owing to the number 13. In fact, Mukherjee became the country's 13th president.

Meanwhile, all roads leading to the bungalow, a stone's throw from Rashtrapati Bhavan, were cordoned off for a brief period leading to traffic snarls, while those waiting at the two opposite bus stops adjacent to the bungalow were asked to vacate the area by police.

At least two dozen police personnel including traffic policemen were deployed in the vicinity.

Suvra Mukherjee's body was earlier kept in Rashtrapati Bhavan between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., where a host of dignitaries paid their last respects to the first lady who passed away at 10.51 a.m. at the Army Research and Referral Hospital.

Her cremation will take place at the Lodhi Road crematorium at 10 a.m. on Wednesday.