Vajpayee's ashes immersed in Sabarmati river

Ashes of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee were today immersed in Sabarmati river here by Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani.

The ashes were immersed at Sabarmati riverfront by Rupani in the presence of state BJP chief Jitu Vaghani and several other key party leaders.

After the immersion, Rupani announced that the place at the riverfront from where the ashes were immersed in the river would now be called as 'Atal ghat'.

Earlier during the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior BJP leaders handed over the urns containing Vajpayee's ashes to state party presidents, including Vaghani, at a function in Delhi today.

Vaghani arrived at the city airport with the ashes in the afternoon. The state BJP had announced that Vajpayee's ashes will be immersed in six rivers of the state, starting from Sabarmati river today.

"From the airport, the ashes were taken to Khadia, where 'Jan Sangh', the earlier avatar of the BJP, used to run its office. Vajpayee had visited that office several times," a party leader said.

The party later took out 'Asthi Kalash Yatra', wherein the ashes were taken out through some old areas in the city in a specially-designed truck.

The yatra culminated at Sabarmati riverfront, from where Rupani immersed the ashes amid the chants of "Vajpayee Amar Rahe" and "Bharat Mata Ki Jay".