Vajpayee's ashes immersed in confluence of Jhelum, Sindh

Shadipur/Jammu, Aug 24: The ashes of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee were today immersed in the confluence of Vitasta (Jhelum) and Sindh (Indus) rivers in the Kashmir Valley. Vajpayee passed away on August 16.

He was 93. BJP general secretary Ashok Koul and MLC Girdhari Lal Raina and other senior party leaders attended the special prayers held at Shadipur Ghat.

"We have immersed the ashes of Atalji at 'Vitastasindhusamgama', the confluence of Vitasta (Jhelum) and Sindh (Indus) rivers, at a chinar tree shrine of Lord Shiva. The tree stands on a small island in the middle of the confluence in Shadipur belt of the Kashmir Valley," Raina, who performed the rituals at the prayers, told PTI.

The ashes of India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and his daughter Indira Gandhi, country's only female prime minister, were also immersed in Kashmir. In Jammu, BJP workers immersed Vajpayee's ashes in river Tawi last evening. A large number of BJP leaders and workers were present on the occasion.

The 'asthi kalash' (urn of ashes) was brought to the party headquarters by state BJP president Ravinder Raina from Delhi. A large number of party workers joined the procession to take the urn to the BJP office from the Jammu airport.

After paying tributes to the departed leader at the party headquarters, the 'asthi kalash' was taken in a procession which began from Trikuta Nagar and culminated on the banks of river Tawi.

PTI