Vajpayee ashes to be immersed in rivers of Jharkhand

The ashes of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee will be immersed in several rivers across Jharkhand as part of a statewide Kalash Yatra, a senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said on Saturday.

The decision was taken after Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das held a meeting with senior officials and ministers in New Delhi on Friday night to discuss arrangements for paying tribute to the former Prime Minister.

Deepak Prakash, Vice President of the BJP’s Jharkhand unit, said the ashes would be carried across all districts of the state before being immersed at designated river locations.

“In the meeting, it was decided that the former leader’s ashes will be immersed in the rivers of the state by organising a Kalash Yatra which will move across every district,” Prakash told IANS.

According to the plan, the ashes will be immersed in the Ganga, Swarnarekha, Damodar, Koel-Karo and Kharkai rivers.

The statewide yatra is expected to give people in different parts of Jharkhand an opportunity to pay their final respects to Vajpayee, who remained an influential figure in Indian politics for several decades.

Vajpayee also has a particularly significant place in Jharkhand’s political history. The state was created in 2000 during his tenure as Prime Minister, along with Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand.

The proposed Kalash Yatra therefore carries added significance for Jharkhand, where Vajpayee’s role in the creation of the state remains an important part of his political legacy.

Officials have been asked to prepare the detailed route map and finalise the date for the yatra. Once the schedule is decided, the procession is expected to travel through all districts before the ashes are immersed at the identified rivers.

The initiative is intended not only as a ceremonial tribute but also as a way of connecting Vajpayee’s legacy with the people of a state whose creation was one of the major political decisions taken during his Prime Ministerial tenure.