Mumbai, May 4
BJP General Secretary Pramod Mahajan, who died of gunshot wounds yesterday, was cremated today with full state honours at the Shivaji Park crematorium here.

Among those who attended the funeral included Vice-President of India Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani, RSS chief V. Sudarshan, VHP president Praveen Togadia and others.

The Government of India was represented by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, Home Minister Shivraj Patil and Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, Governor S.M. Krishna, Jet Airways chief Naresh Goyal, Reliance Industries’ Chairman Mukesh Ambani and Reliance-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group head Anil Ambani were among those present.

Earlier, Mahajan’s body was brought to his residence at Purna Housing Society at Worli in the morning after being kept overnight at the BJP’s party office at Nariman Point in downtown Mumbai.

There were heart-rending scenes at Mahajan’s residence before his mortal remains were taken on a flower-bedecked cortege to the cremation grounds. Even as thousands of his admirers flocked to pay homage to Mahajan, the deceased’s close relatives couldn’t help breaking down in public.

Mahajan’s 76-year-old mother Prabhavati was inconsolable clinging on to the casket.

Mahajan’s brother Prakash, brother-in-law Gopinath Munde and scores of onlookers cried openly as the old woman was prised away from her son’s coffin. The moment was even more poignant since Munde brought along his young grandson to pay homage to the departed leader. Prabhavati collapsed soon after but was revived with the help of doctors.

Mahajan’s wife Rekha and daughter Poonam, too, broke down.

The funeral cortege finally left his residence a little past 11 am only after the police forcibly cleared the way ahead through surging crowds of party activists and admirers.

Bedecked in the national flag with state police personnel acting as pall bearers, Mahajan’s son Rahul and BJP President Rajnath Singh accompanied the departed leader on his final journey.

The 10-km route from Worli to Shivaji Park saw nearly 2 lakh persons jostling to have a glimpse of the last journey.

Chants of “Pramod Mahajan amar rahey” and “Jab tak suraj chand rahega, Pramodji ka naam rahega” rent the air till the doorsteps of the crematorium.

The main absentees at the funeral were his brother Pravin and his family.

Pravin, who fired three bullets on the BJP leader on April 22, is in jail while his wife Sarangi and their two children were asked to stay away by the police for security reasons.

Last night, BJP leaders had to make slight alterations in the funeral schedule due to the long autopsy conducted on Mahajan.

The autopsy took three hours as the doctors had to trace the path of the three bullets fired into Mahajan’s body. All three bullets were retrieved during the three-hour autopsy and handed over to ballistic experts for analysis.

As a contingent of the Maharashtra Police fired three rounds of ammunition into the air and sounded the Last Post, Mahajan’s son Rahul lit the funeral pyre amidst the chanting of slogans.

Even as the dignitaries drove off, Mahajan’s relatives stayed behind to watch the embers consume his mortal remains.