New Delhi: Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee cremated with full State honours amidst chants of sacred hymns. Vajpayee’s foster daughter Namita Bhattacharya later lit the pyre. His granddaughter Niharika received the Tricolour flag that was wrapped around the coffin of Vajpayee.

President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP president Amit Shah, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, senior BJP leader L.K. Advani, Congress president Rahul Gandhi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, among various other national leaders attended the cremation ceremony to pay homage to the beloved leader.

Army Chief General Bipin Rawat, Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba and Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa also paid their last tribute to Vajpayee.

The ceremony was also attended by a string of foreign dignitaries including King of Bhutan Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, Sri Lanka’s acting Foreign Minister Lakshman Kiriella and former Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai.

-ANI

SOURCE : http://www.bfirst.in/category/nation/vajpayees-foster-daughter-performs-final-rites-509586