Vajpayee Will Rest At Smrithi Sthal, Nation On 7-Day Mourning

New Delhi: Atal Bihari Vajpayee's body will be kept at his Krishna Menon Marg residence overnight. His mortal remains are now being taken home from AIIMS after embalming.

The mortal remains will be taken to the BJP headquarters at 11, Ashoka Road , at 10am on Friday, where it will lie for people to pay their final respects till 1:30 pm. The final rites will take place near Rajghat at Smriti Sthal 5 pm.

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The government also announced a seven-day state mourning as a mark of respect for the former prime minister. In a circular, the home ministry also said national flag would be flown at half mast from today for seven days across India and a state funeral would be accorded to Vajpayee.

The BJP rode on the former prime minister's larger than the party image and avuncular manners to win over new allies and back to back victories in Lok Sabha elections in 1998 and 1999 to become a dominant force, eclipsing the Congress for the first time.

Never the one who wore the party's core Hindutva ideology on his sleeve, the poet- politician led the party from 1980, when it was founded by leaders of the erstwhile Jana Sangh which was merged with Janata Party briefly, to 1986 but with little electoral success as it won only two seats in the 1984 Lok Sabha elections.

However, it was L K Advani who was at the centre of the BJP's rise through the late 80s and early 90s as it rode the Ram Janmbhoomi movement pushed by its Hindutva affiliates like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and fuelled by 'rath yatra' in 1990 in support of a temple in Ayodhya. (PTI)

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