Vajpayee's ashes reach Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar : The ashes of late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee reached Bhubaneswar on Wednesday.

The ashes will be immersed in major rivers across Odisha, including the Bay of Bengal at Puri.

Odisha BJP President Basant Panda arrived in Bhubaneswar with the urn this evening after receiving it from Union Minister Sushma Swaraj, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah in Delhi on Wednesday.

The urn carrying ashes was brought to the state BJP office in a grand procession from the city airport.

BJP vice-president Sameer Mohanty said the urn will be kept at the party office for the people to pay their tributes.

He said ashes will be taken to Puri in a procession from Bhubaneswar and it will be dissolved in the sea in Puri on Thursday.

The BJP has also planed an all-party meeting on Aug 24 in Bhubaneswar in memory of the great leader.