Former Indian minister, BJP leader Arun Jaitley cremated with full state honours

Former Finance Minister and BJP leader Arun Jaitley was cremated with full state honours at the Nigambodh Ghat here on Sunday. His son Rohan performed the last rites.

The cremation was attended by Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman, Rajnath Singh, Prakash Javdekar, Smriti Irani, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.

Also present were BJP veteran L.K. Advani as well as other party leaders including B.S. Yediyurappa, Gautam Gambhir, along with opposition leader Sharad Pawar.

Jaitley passed away at AIIMS on Saturday after a prolonged illness.

A large crowd gathered outside the BJP headquarters here on Sunday for a last glimpse of former Finance minister and BJP leader Arun Jaitley as his body was taken to Nigambodh Ghat for cremation. The cremation will take place at 2.30pm (local time).

Security was beefed up outside the BJP headquarters on Deendayal Upadhyay Road, with both police and paramilitary forces deployed in strength.

BJP leaders wait to receive the coffin with the body of Arun Jaitley. AFP

In the morning, hordes of people tried to enter the BJP headquarters when the body of Jaitley, who died at AIIMS on Saturday, was brought there in a procession from his house in Kailash Colony, south Delhi.

Union Ministers Amit Shah, Harsh Vardhan, Rajnath Singh and Piyush Goyal, Jharkhand CM Raghubar Das and Bharatiya Janata Party National Working President J.P. Nadda were among those who paid homage to the departed leader at the party headquarters.

Remembering Jaitley, his close friend and television anchor Rajat Sharma, said: "One can never find a friend like him. Will always remain on the path he showed."

Indo-Asian News Service