Updated
New Delhi, Aug 17 (IANS): Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who passed away here at AIIMS on Thursday at age 93, was on Friday cremated with full military honours at Rashtriya Smriti Sthal, where people turned out in tens of thousands to pay their final tributes.
Vajpayee's foster-daughter Namita lit the funeral pyre amidst the chanting of vedic hymns and firing of a 21-gun salute by soldiers.
President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi led a galaxy of political leaders cutting across party lines and foreign dignitaries joined the rest of the nation in bidding adieu to the departed leader at the Rashtriya Smriti Sthal, a designated spot for the last rites of Presidents, Vice Presidents and Prime Ministers, on the banks of Yamuna river.
In keeping with the military honours, three service chiefs placed wreaths on the body of Vajpayee before leaders paid their floral tributes.
The tricolour that was wrapped around Vajpayee's body was removed and given to his foster granddaughter Niharika after which the body was handed over to the family for last rites.
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, veteran BJP leaders and Vajpayee's long-time associates L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Congress President Rahul Gandhi were present at the funeral.
Bhutan King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk and former Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai led foreign dignitaries including Nepal's Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali, Sri Lanka's Acting Foreign Minister Lakshman Kiriella and Bangladesh Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali in paying homage.
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mallikarjun Kharge and Anand Sharma, Lok Sabha Deputy Speker M. Thambidurai, former Union Minister A. Raja, MDMK chief Vaiko and TMC leader Dinesh Trivedi were among who witnessed the performance of the last rites.
A few thousand people, some of whom chanted slogans hailing the late leader, thronged the Smriti Sthal as the last rites took place.
Earlier, tens of thousands of commoners joined Modi and BJP President Amit Shah in the final journey to bid adieu to Vajpayee as the former Prime Minister's body was being taken to Rashtriya Smriti Sthal.
Vajpayee, who passed away at AIIMS on Thursday evening, had a pan-India appeal and his flair for foreign policy and initiatives were acknowledged globally.
The country observed a seven-day state mourning as a mark of respect for the leader was decorated with Bharat Ratna and was very popular. The tricolour is flying half-staff.
Earlier updates
5.05 pm: Ex-PM's body consigned to flames at Smriti Sthal
After being accorded a gun salute, former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's body was consigned to flames at Smriti Sthal in Delhi.
4.45 pm: Final rites begin in the presence of Vajpayee's family members
4. 38 pm: Tricolour wrapped around Vajpayee's body handed over to his granddaughter
Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's granddaughter Niharika was handed over the Tricolour which was used to drape his mortal remains.
4.30 pm: LK Advani, Amit Shah pay last respects
Senior BJP leader LK Advani and party chief Amit Shah paid homage to Atal Bihari Vajpayee at Smriti Sthal in Delhi.
4.00 pm: All three forces — army, navy and air force — laid wreath on the mortal remains of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Army chief Bipin Rawat and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman paid last respects.
3.59 pm: Kejriwal, Raman Singh among leaders present at Smriti Sthal
Among the leaders present at the venue for the last rites ceremony are Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, and his deputy Manish Sisodia, Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh, Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, Ashok Gehlot and Raj Babbar.
3.56 pm: Vajpayee's body brought to Smriti Sthal
The mortal remains of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee have arrived at Smriti Sthal, where the last rites ceremony will be held.
3.40 pm: Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Rahul Gandhi arrive at Smriti Sthal for the funeral of former PM Atal BihariVajpayee.
3.15 pm: Union Flag is flying at half-mast at the British High Commission in New Delhi as mark of respect to former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
2.45 pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP chief Amit Shah and other senior leaders of the party are walking in the funeral procession of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to Smriti Sthal.
Thousands of mourners jostled and some clambered on trees to capture the moment on their phones as Vajpayee's cortege left the BJP's headquarters for Rashtriya Smriti Sthal for the last rites of the poet-politician.
2.12 pm: Mortal remains of Atal Bihari Vajpayee depart for last rites
The final journey of the late former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee began here on Friday from BJP Headquarters where the mortal remains were lying for people to pay homage.
2.00 PM: Sea of mourners bid adieu to Vajpayee
Vajpayee, who passed away at AIIMS on Thursday evening, will be given a state funeral around 4 p.m. at the Rashtriya Smriti Sthal on the banks of the Yamuna.
His last journey from the party headquarters to Smriti Sthal was to begin at 1 p.m. but got delayed by around an hour as thousands of supporters and fans of Vajypayee swarmed the 6-A Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg to see their leader one last time.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP President Amit Shah and other senior leaders including L.K. Advani and Sitaram Yechury paid their tributes to Vajpayee.
The body was brought from the Krishna Menon Marg residence of the former Prime Minister in a flower-decked hearse drawn by a military truck.
1. 56 pm: EU tweets condolences on Vajpayee's passing
The European Union said they bloc will remember Vajpayee's visionary contributions to EU-India relations. "We express our deepest sympathies on the passing away of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Our thoughts are with his family, friends and with the people of India," it said in a tweet.
1.31 pm: Narendra Modi returns to BJP headquarters
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has returned to the BJP headquarters, shortly before the funeral procession to the cremation ground is taken out. The cremation of veteran BJP leader and three time prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee will take place at Rashtriya Smriti Sthal near Rajghat in New Delhi on Friday.
Modi, Shah receive Vajpayee's body at BJP HQ, leaders pay tributes
New Delhi, Aug 17 (IANS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP President Amit Shah and other senior leaders including L.K. Advani and Sitaram Yechury, and thousands of people paid their tributes as the mortal remains of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee reached the party's central office here on Friday.
The body, draped in the national flag reached the 6-A Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg headquarters in a procession which was joined by a large number of people from different parts of the country who chanted "Jab tak sooraj chand rahega, Atalji ka naam rahega", "Bharat Mata ki jai" and "Vande Mataram" in unision to pay their tributes to the departed leader.
The body was brought from the Krishna Menon Marg residence of the former Prime Minister in a flower-decked hearse drawn by a military truck.
Modi, Shah, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath stood in silence near the gate as the body arrived.
They later paid their tributes by offering flowers to the body of the late leader. The mortal remains were kept in front of a large smiling picture of Vajpayee. A party flag had been placed on each side of the photograph.
Advani, a long-time associate of Vajpayee, visited the new party office to pay his tributes.
Communist Party of India-Marxist General Secretary Sitaram Yechury and CPI leader D. Raja also paid their tributes.
Among those present were union ministers, chief ministers, state ministers, MPs, MLAs and BJP office-bearers.
As the casket reached the party office, people turned emotional and some of them had tears in their eyes in memory of their beloved leader who had a pan-India appeal.
They had gathered outside the party office in large numbers since morning to pay their tributes. Security men had a hard time keeping the crowds in check.
A woman from Darjeeling even jumped the gate to get inside the party office.
Vajpayee will be given a state funeral at around 4 p.m. at the Rashtriya Smriti Sthal on the banks of the Yamuna. His last journey from the party headquarters to Sthal will begin at 1 p.m.
The country is observing a seven-day state mourning as a mark of respect for the leader who had been decorated with Bharat Ratna and was very popular. The tricolour is flying half-staff.
Delhi government offices, schools and institutions are closed on Friday and central government offices will work for half-a-day.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and chiefs of the Army, Navy and the Air Force has earlier visited Vajpayee's official residence to pay their tributes.
Vajpayee had passed away at the AIIMS on Thursday evening.
Earlier reports
Vajpayee's mortal remains taken to BJP headquarters
New Delhi, Aug 17: Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's mortal remains, wrapped in the tricolour, were taken to the BJP headquarters here on Friday for the people to pay their last respects to the departed leader.
The body in a flower-decked casket was carried in a hearse to 6-A Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg headquarters.
Vajpayyee, who passed away at the AIIMS here on Thursday evening at the age of 93, will be cremated at the Rashtriya Smriti Sthal near Rajghat in the national capital at 4 p.m.
His last journey will begin from the Bharatiya Janata Party headquarters to Rashtriya Smriti Sthal at 1 p.m. The government has announced a state funeral for Vajpayee.
A seven-day state mourning has been announced as a mark of respect for the former Prime Minister. Delhi government offices, schools and institutions have been closed.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and all the three armed forces chiefs earlier led a host of leaders in paying homage to Vajpayee.
End of an era: Former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee no more
New Delhi, Aug 16 (IANS): Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, a moderate face in saffron politics and the first non-Congress prime minister to complete a full term in office, died here on Thursday after a prolonged illness, AIIMS authorities said. He was 93.
"It is with profound grief that we inform about the sad demise of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee at 5.05 p.m. on 16.08.2018," an AIIMS press statement said.
The statement said Vajpayee was admitted on June 11 and was stable in the last nine weeks. "Unfortunately, his condition deteriorated over the last 36 hours and he was put on life support system. Despite the best of efforts, we have lost him today."
Vajpayee, a diabetic patient, was undergoing treatment at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). His condition worsened further on Wednesday evening with leaders from across the political spectrum thronging the hospital and enquiring about his health.
The former Prime Minister, whose birthday on December 25 is celebrated as Good Governance Day, was honoured with the Bharat Ratna in 2014 at his home.
He was Prime Minister for 13 days in mid-1996 when he was forced to resign ahead of the confidence vote for which he did not have the numbers.
Vajpayee again became the Prime Minister in March 1998 but his government fell 13 months later on the floor of the Lok Sabha losing by one vote in the confidence motion after AIADMK headed by the late J.Jayalalithaa withdrew support to the BJP.
The BJP government headed by Vajpayee returned to power in 1999 and completed its full term till 2004.