UP ministers to escort Vajpayee's ashes for immersion in 16 rivers

Lucknow: The ashes of late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee will be sent to 16 prominent rivers of Uttar Pradesh on Friday for immersion, state BJP President Mahendra Nath Pandey said on Tuesday.

Pandey said that the urns carrying the ashes of the late Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stalwart will be escorted by ministers of the state government and party`s office-bearers.

State Minister Jai Prakash Nishad will accompany the ashes to Gorakhpur where it will be immersed in Rapti river on the Rajghat on Saturday in presence of UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Cabinet Minister Swamy Prasad Maurya.

Minister Neelkanth Tiwari will be doing the immersion of ashes on Friday at Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi`s parliamentary constituency. State unit chief Mahendra Nath Pandey will also be present here.

The ashes of Vajpayee will be immersed in the holy Saryu river in the holy town of Ayodhya on Friday in presence of Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma.

The urn will be taken to Jhansi for immersion in Betwa river by Minister of State for Transport Swatantra Dev Singh and the event will take place in presence of Union Minister Uma Bharati and state`s Industry Minister Satish Mahana over the weekend.

MoS Mohsin Raza will take the ashes for immersion at Bithoor Ghat in Kanpur on the banks of river Ganges. 

Others have been assigned to take the ashes of the late poet-Prime Minister to other prominent rivers.