Union Minister and senior BJP leader Ananth Kumar, who passed away Monday morning at the age of 59, will be cremated with full state honours in Bengaluru on Tuesday afternoon.
A state funeral would be held with full military honours complete with a 21-gun salute before the last rites are conducted in accordance with Hindu rites at the Chamarajpet crematorium in Bengaluru.
“A state funeral with 21-gun salute and guard of honour will be accorded to the mortal remains of Ananth Kumar,” an official told news agency IANS.
Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and party’s national president Amit Shah are expected to attend the last rites.
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According to sources close to the family, Ananth Kumar’s brother Nanda Kumar will perform the last rites according to Brahmin traditions.
Ananth Kumar, who was suffering from lung cancer and had returned from the United States in October after treatment, breathed his last at a hospital in Bengaluru.
Hundreds of BJP leaders and cadres on Tuesday paid their last respects to the mortal remains of the minister.
Ananth Kumar’s body was taken from his Basavanagudi residence, where it was kept since yesterday morning to Jagannath Bhavan, the BJP state headquarters at Malleshwarm, in a decorated military vehicle with personnel of the three services- the Army, Navy and Air Force- accompanying it.
The procession began, with supporters chanting slogans “Bharat Mata Ki Jai”, “Ananth Kumar Amar Rahe”.The cortege carrying the glass casket was draped in the national flag.
It was escorted by the city police on the 10km ride, clearing traffic during the peak hour, as the procession was already running behind schedule.
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The casket was kept in the main hall of the party office as state unit chief B.S. Yeddurappa, K.S. Eshwarappa, R. Ashok, Union Ministers D.V. Sadananda Gowda and Ramesh Jigjinagi, party’s members of Parliament and the state legislature among others gathered to pay their final floral tributes.
Many of the cadres arrived across the state by overnight trains, buses and private vehicles, Shantaram said.
(With agency inputs)