Atal’s ashes to be immersed in river The Gomati at Lucknow

Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had a long association with Lucknow and its lifeline –the river Gomti.

On Thursday, the ashes of the departed leader will be immersed in the same river which found a frequent mention in his speeches during his five-time tenure as Member of Parliament from this constituency. A similar ritual will also be carried out in other rivers of the state.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP, MLAs and MLCs have been directed by the top brass of the Uttar Pradesh unit to be in their respective parliamentary and Assembly constituencies on the day of the immersion of the ashes and the `Kalash Yatra’, which will precede it.

A total of 20 ‘asthi kalash’ are expected to reach Lucknow on Tuesday where they will be placed at the BJP headquarters to enable the people to pay homage to the former Prime Minister. Following this, ‘asthi kalash yatras’ will start for the 18 divisions of the state on Wednesday.

The ashes of the leader will be immersed in the main rivers of the state thereafter. For example, the river Ganga at Garhmukteshwar in Meerut division, Mandakani in Chitrakoot, Saryu in Ayodhya, Sangam in Allahabad, Ramganga in Moradabad, Rapti in Gorakhpur, Betwa in Jhansi, Tamsa in Azamgarh have been zeroed in upon for the ashes immersion ceremony.

This will be followed by ‘shradhanjali sabhas’ in the 92 district units of the party.

Massive arrangements are underway in Lucknow for the final farewell to the former PM whose ashes will be immersed in river Gomti. Around one lakh people are expected to take part in the prayer meet and the immersion ceremony which will be held at the Jhule Lal park on the river embankment.

Seating arrangement for 20,000 people is being made for the prayer meet which will be attended by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his ministerial colleagues. Also present on the occasion will be Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who is also the MP from Lucknow.

Members from Vajpayee’s family are also expected to be present on the occasion. Lucknow was the ‘karamabhoomi’ of the late PM.

A BJP leader said that it has been decided to send invitations to leaders and presidents of all political parties including the Congress, the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party for the prayer meet.

Senior BJP leaders including general secretary Sunil Bansal, state general secretary Gobind Shukla have been regularly visiting the Jhule Lal park to monitor the arrangements.

The cabinet meeting slated for Tuesday is expected to take some vital decisions regarding the naming of important buildings after Vajpayee.