Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur and his cabinet colleagues on Sunday dispersed the ashes of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in the Beas river at a function here.
Earlier, a prayer meeting to pay tributes to hiAm was held at a tourist resort where Vajpayee constructed his house.
Hundreds of people paid homage to their beloved leader, who died on August 16 in New Delhi.
Paying tributes, Thakur called Vajpayee a visionary leader who was above party politics. His demise was indeed a great loss to the nation in general and Himachal Pradesh in particular.
He said Vajpayee has a special place in his heart for the people of the state and Himachal would always miss his love and benevolence.
He said that although the former PM was away from active life for the last twelve year but still because of his noble works lakhs of people participated in his funeral pyre, this shows his popularity among the common masses.
Vajpayee always considered Himachal Pradesh his second home and has a house at Prini (near here). Whenever he got time from his busy schedule, he visited Manali and wrote some unforgettable poems there, the Chief Minister said.
The idea to construct the Rohtang tunnel connecting the landlocked lahaul valley with the rest of the world was conceived by Vajpayee in 1998 and the project was announced by him on June 3, 2000, he added.
Thakur said that this project was nearing completion and would be the biggest gift of Vajpayee to the state.
He further said that as a Prime Minister in the year 2002, Vajpayee recited his poems in the auditorium of the Mountaineering Institute Manali. Vajpayee was a poet from the heart and had special love for the mountains, he added.
The Chief Minister said that Vajpayee’s speeches used to be very fiery and phenomenal and whenever he was addressing the public meetings, even his adversary would eagerly listen to his speech.
Thakur urged the people to share memories and memoirs with Atal Bihari Vajpayee so that the same can be used in a befitting manner to make these memories evergreen. He also planted a sapling of Deodar in memory of Vajpayee in the complex of the Mountaineering Institute and also tied Rakhi to the sapling.
Forest Minister and local legislator Govind Thakur said Vajpayee had special love for the people of the state in general and Kullu-Manali in particular.
Member of Parliament Ram Swaroop Sharma described Vajpayee as a world leader and a poet from the heart. He added that it was the sheer grit of Vajpayee to go ahead with Pokhran Nuclear Test making India a nuclear power.
