M A I N   N E W S

Badal immerses Devi Lal’s ashes
Lalit Mohan

Kiratpur Sahib (Ropar), April 9
The ashes of former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal were immersed by Punjab Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal at the Ast ghat of the Gurdwara Patal Puri Sahib here today.

The urn containing the ashes was brought to Kiratpur Sahib in a procession led by a Punjab Police vehicle in which besides the Chief Minister, his cabinet colleagues, including Mr Balramji Dass Tandon, Mr Madan Mohan Mittal, Mr Sukhbir Badal and Mr Bhunder, the Rajya Sabha member, Bibi Satwant Kaur Sandhu and the state BJP president, Mr Brij Lal Rinwa were also present.

At Kiratpur Sahib, the procession was accorded a ceremonial welcome by a brass band of the Punjab Police Academy, Phillaur. Thereafter the procession was led by 20 mounted Punjab Police personnel and 25 ceremonial guards to the Ast ghat of Gurdwara Patal Puri Sahib. The urn containing the ashes was placed on the platform for a short period to enable local leaders to pay their last respects to the departed leader.

Mr Badal, accompanied by his Cabinet colleagues, then carried the urn to the small suspension bridge over the Sutlej river at the Ast ghat. Though the gurdwara authorities had also arranged for a boat to facilitate the immersion of ashes by the VIPs, Mr Badal preferred to carry it to the suspension bridge. The ashes were immersed in the gushing waters of the Sutlej at 2.53 p.m. After the immersion, Mr Badal paid obeisance at the gurdwara. The ardas was performed by the head granthi of Takht Kesgarh Sahib, Giani Tarlochan Singh. Later, Mr Badal and his colleagues had langar.

During the ceremonies at Kiratpur Sahib, two-seater planes showered flower petals over the area. Mr Jagdev Singh Talwandi, SGPC president, presented a siropa to Mr Badal.

Earlier, the procession carrying the ashes of Devi Lal entered Ropar around 12 noon. The procession got a rousing welcome from the local leaders.