Bengaluru: The mortal remains of Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister and senior BJP leader Ananth Kumar were consigned to flames with full state honours here on Tuesday after hundreds of mourners paid their last respect to the departed soul.
The funeral pyre was lit by Kumar's younger brother Nanda Kumar, who performed the last rites according to Smartha Brahmin traditions, amidst chanting of Vedic hymns by a battery of priests at the Chamarajapete cremation ground.
Kumar's tricolour-draped mortal remains were accorded a gun salute by military personnel in presence of his wife Tejaswini, daughters Aishwarya and Vijetha, other family members and, national and state leaders.
Chants of "Bharat Mata Ki Jai" and "Ananth Kumar Amar Rahe" rent the air as leaders paid homage and the mortal remains were consigned to flames.
Veteran BJP leader and former deputy prime minister L K Advani, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP president Amit Shah and state party chief B S Yeddyurappa and RSS general secretary Bhaiyyaji Joshi were present at the the last rites.
Also in attendance were Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Piyush Goyal, Dharmendra Pradhan, Mahesh Sharma, Vijay Goel and Sadananda Gowda.
Earlier, a steady stream of mourners led by Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu, BJP workers, supporters and members of public paid their last respects to Kumar. Hundreds of mourners filed past the body of Kumar, which lay in state at his residence till this morning and was then taken to the party state headquarters 'Jagannath Bhavan" and the National College ground in his Bengaluru South parliamentary constituency.
From the Basavanagudi residence, the mortal remains were carried in a decorated military vehicle with personnel of the three services- the Army, Navy and the Air Force- accompanying it, amid slogans "Bharat Mata Ki Jai" and "Ananth Kumar Amar Rahe" by his supporters.
The body was later shifted to National College ground for the public to pay homage. The six-time MP was closely associated with the ground, having hosted many of his political events there. The Vice-President, who had shared a special bond with Kumar, paid his last respects to his former colleague at the National College ground.
The mortal remains were later brought for the final rites at Chamarajapet in a procession, that was accompanied by hundreds of his supporters and general public, who raised slogans hailing the "most loved" Bengaluru MP, known for his geniality and accessibility.