Vajpayee's ashes to be immersed in 8 rivers in Karnataka

The ashes of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee would be immersed in eight rivers in Karnataka, including the Cauvery, state BJP B S Yeddyurappa said today.

He would travel to Delhi to collect the ashes and they would be brought to the city tomorrow.

"Tomorrow morning in Delhi, BJP president Amit Shah has called a meeting of state unit chiefs and other leaders, I'm leaving for Delhi. The meeting is about immersing Vajpayee's ashes in holy rivers across the country," the former chief minister said.

Speaking to reporters, he said a "sacred urn" containing the ashes would be received by party workers and leaders at Kempegowda International Airport around 3.30 pm.

The BJP leader said the urn would be brought in a procession to the party's state office here, where arrangements had been made for thousands of admirers to pay floral tribute to the departed leader.

"The asthi visarjan (immersion of ashes) will take place on August 23 at Triveni Sangama on the banks of the Cauvery in the holy temple town of Srirangapatna in which I along with Union minister Ananth Kumar and other party leaders will take part," Yeddyurappa said.

On August 25, the BJP has organised the 'asthi visarjan' event at seven places across Karnataka.

In Mangaluru-Udupi region, the ashes would be immersed in Netravathy River at Uppinangadi, where MPs Shobha Karandlaje and Nalin Kumar Kateel along with MLA C T Ravi would be present.

In Hubli-Dharwad, Haveri and Gadag region, the immersion would take place in Malaprabha river, while in the Bijapur-Bagalkot region, it would be immersed in Krishna river.

The ashes would be immersed in Karanja river in Bidar and Kalaburagi region while in Ballari and Koppal region, it would be immersed in Tungabhadra River.

They would also be immersed in Sharavati River (Honnavar) in Uttara Kannada district and in Tunga River in Shivamogga district.

Several party state leaders would be present at these events, Yeddyurappa said, adding that on August 26 a condolence meeting would be held in Bengaluru.