Thousands bid adieu to Mahajan

Chaos reigned on the city roads, even as former BJP general secretary and Union minister Pramod Mahajan's body was consigned to flames by his son Rahul amidst Vedic chanting and gun salutes by the state police at the Dadar crematorium this afternoon.

Earlier in the morning, the body was brought to Mahajan's residence at Purna-Godavri complex at Worli in south Mumbai from the party's state headquarters at Nariman Point.

After seeing the dead body of her eldest son, Mahajan's mother Prabhavati fainted on the spot and had to be comforted by Mahajan's son Rahul who maintained his composure throughout the day.

Mahajan's wife Rekha also broke down after seeing her companion of 33 years brought in a coffin. She was comforted by daughter Poonam Rao. While consoling her mother, Poonam also broke down.

Mahajan's brother-in-law and friend of more than three decades, Gopinath Munde was also present. He has assumed the role of head of the family ever since Mahajan was shot at 13 days ago.

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha L K Advani and his family members were among the first dignitaries who paid tributes to the departed leader today. They were followed by RSS chief K Sudarshan and Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh.

Mahajan's party colleagues who paid homage to the leader included former ministers Jaswant Singh, Murli Manohar Joshi, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Venkaiah Naidu, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Vijay Kumar Malhotra and Sahib Singh Verma. Besides, VHP leader Praveen Togadia, Najma Heptullah, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Union Minister for Communications Dayanidhi Maran and former Defence Minister George Fernandes also paid their last respects.

Industrialists Anil Ambani, Naresh Goyal, media baron and Rajya Sabha MP Vijay Darda, Bollywood personalities Hema Malini, Poonam Dhillon, Madhur Bhandarkar, Ashok Pandit, Raj Babbar, Dharmendra and Shatrughan Sinha also paid homage to the departed leader. BJP president Rajnath Singh and son Rahul took Mahajan's body to the flower bedecked open truck.

Thousands of BJP workers from across the state, especially from Mahajan's home district Beed, flocked to the crematorium and walked alongside the truck shouting slogans.

At the cremation, thousands of Mahajan's well wishers led by Vice President Bhairosingh Shekhawat and former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee bid a tearful adieu to Mahajan. The dignitaries who offered wreath as mark of respect to Mahajan, included Union ministers Shivraj Patil, Sharad Pawar, Praful Patel and BJP ruled states' chief ministers.

Gopinath Munde, who was able to maintain his composure till Rahul lit the funeral pyre, broke down and started crying.

Poonam, Mahajan's daughter, broke tradition and came to the cremation ground to bid adieu to her father.

However, Mahajan's yonger brother Pravin, who fired bullets at Mahajan, and his wife and two children kept themselves away from the funeral.