TN CM, Stalin pay respects to Vajpayee's ashes

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami and DMK working president MK Stalin paid respects to the ashes of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee at the state BJP office here today.

Palaniswami, his deputy O Panneerselvam and Stalin, who is also the Leader of Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, paid floral tributes to the BJP stalwart's ashes.

Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) MP Anbumani Ramadoss, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) Rajya Sabha member Kanimozhi, former Union ministers Dayanidhi Maran and TR Baalu also paid tributes to Vajpayee's ashes, among others.

The ashes of the three-time former prime minister will be immersed at six locations in Tamil Nadu -- Chennai, Kanyakumari, Rameswaram, Erode, Srirangam and Madurai -- on August 26.

The urns containing the ashes are kept at the state BJP office, Kamalalayam, for the public to pay homage.

Yesterday, the funerary urn containing Vajpayee's ashes was brought from Delhi by state BJP president Tamilisai Soundararajan and was taken in a procession to Kamalalayam.

The BJP had earlier decided that Vajpayee's ashes would be immersed in rivers across the country, starting with the Ganga in Haridwar.

The 93-year-old BJP patriarch died in New Delhi on August 16, following a prolonged illness.

He was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in the national capital on June 11 with a kidney tract infection, urinary tract infection, low urine output and chest congestion.