Vajpayee's ashes taken for immersion, Lucknow shows 'Atal' love for him

The ashes of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee were brought to Lucknow today, his political karambhoomi, where it will be immersed in the Gomati river later in the day.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh along with Uttar Pradesh BJP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey and Vajpayee's family members arrived here with the ashes from New Delhi.

At the airport here, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, his deputies Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma were present to receive the ashes.

A special vehicle carrying the ashes will pass through several places enroute to Jhulelal Vatika on the banks of river Gomti. Some of the prominent places from where the procession will pass are Kanpur Road, Alambagh, Mawaiyya, Charbagh Railway Station, Bansmandi crossing, Maharana Pratap crossing, Burlington crossing and then reach the state BJP office.

From the BJP office, the urn will be taken in a procession to Jhulelal Vatika via Lucknow Municipal Corporation, Novelty theatre, Hazratganj police station and Subhash crossing.

The strong bond the former prime minister shared with the people of Lucknow, which sent him to Lok Sabha five times, was on display as despite continuous rains, huge crowds gathered at different places in the city to pay homage to Vajpayee and bid final farewell.

Slogans of 'Atalji amar rahe' and 'jab tak sooraj chaand rahegaa, Atal teraa naam rahegaa' were heard as the crowds paid tributes to Vajpayee.

Vajpayee died on August 16 in New Delhi at the age of 93. He was elected to Lok Sabha from Lucknow in 1991, 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2004.

Vajpayee is the first and the only non-Congress leader who completed his full term as prime minister.