Ex-PM Vajpayee's ashes to be immersed in six rivers in Gujarat

The ashes of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee will be immersed in six rivers across Gujarat in coming days, a state BJP leader said today.

The BJP would organise an all-party prayer meeting in Ahmedabad tomorrow in memory of Vajpayee, and prayer meetings in each district of the state between August 25 and August 30.

The 93-year-old BJP patriarch died at the AIIMS hospital in Delhi on August 16 after a prolonged illness.

"Ashes of the former prime minister will be immersed in the Sabarmati, Tapi, Narmada, Saraswati and Mahi rivers and at the Somnath trivini sangam," Gujarat BJP vice-president I K Jadeja said.

State unit BJP president Jitu Vaghani will bring the urn containing the ashes from Delhi on August 22, the party said in a release issued here today.

Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel will pay floral tributes to the ashes at the airport, after which a procession will be taken out, it said. The ashes will be immersed in the Sabarmati river here later that day.

The immersion will be done in the Tapi river in Surat and at the Somanth triveni sangam (confluence of three rivers) on August 25, and in the Mahi, Saraswati and Narmada rivers on August 27, the release stated.