BJP takes out procession of Vajpayee's ashes in Raipur

A procession of an urn containing the ashes of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was taken out today by the BJP from the Raipur airport to the old BJP office in the city.

State unit BJP president Dharamlal Kaushik brought the urn from Delhi this afternoon, which was received by Chief Minister Raman Singh, Cabinet ministers and BJP leaders at the Swami Vivekanand airport.

The urn was then put on a specially designed rath (chariot) and taken to the old state BJP headquarters 'Ekatm Parisar', a distance of around 13 kms, in a procession.

Chief Minister Raman Singh and other leaders sat on the chariot carrying the urn.

A large number of BJP workers and common people followed the chariot from the airport to its destination.

People showered flowers on the chariot when it passed through various areas amidst chanting of slogans hailing Vajpayee.

After the urn reached the Ekatma Parisar, a condolence meeting was held.

The urn will be kept in the town hall here for public darshan tomorrow between 9 AM and 11 AM.

The ashes will be immersed in the Triveni Sangam (confluence of three rivers) at Rajim town, around 45 kms from here, tomorrow afternoon.

The chief minister, state BJP chief and state ministers will take part in the "asthi visarjan" ritual.

Meanwhile, the urns containing ashes were handed over to BJP presidents of 27 districts after the condolence meeting was held at the Ekatm Parisar.

These urns will be kept at district BJP offices tomorrow where all-party prayer meetings will be held before they are finally immersed in various rivers.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah handed over urns containing the ashes to state unit chiefs of the party.

Vajpayee, 93, died at the AIIMS hospital in Delhi due to prolonged illness on August 16.