Vajpayee's ashes reach Kolkata, to be dissolved in Gangasagar

Kolkata : The ashes of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee reached Kolkata on Wednesday to be dissolved in rivers across the state including Gangasagar, the confluence of Ganges, on August 24.

State Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Dilip Ghosh reached here with the 'Asthi-Kalash' (urn) on Wednesday afternoon, handed over to him by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi. State Governor Keshri Nath Tripathi, BJP National Secretary Rahul Sinha, and party's State General Secretary Sayantan Basu were present at the city airport.

"The urn will be kept in the state BJP office today. It will be taken to South 24 Parganas district's Gangasagar tomorrow, where the 'Asthi-Visarjan' ritual will take place on Friday," a state BJP leader said.

The ritual will also be held in Murshidabad district's Farakka, Hoogly's Tribeni, Nadia's Nabadwip, and Siliguri in north Bengal's Jalpaiguri district later.

The BJP has decided to take out 'asthi kalash yatras' in all districts and disperse the ashes in rivers across the country.