Former Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj cremated with full state honours

New Delhi: Former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj was cremated with full state owners on Wednesday at the Lodhi Road crematorium in New Delhi on Wednesday. Her daughter Bansuri performed her last rites.

Hundreds of dignitaries, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah, veteran party leader L K Advani and Bhutan Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay, paid their last respects to Sushma.

Sushma, 67, died on Tuesday at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi on Tuesday night following a massive cardiac arrest.

Thousands joined the funeral procession from the BJP headquarters to Lodhi crematorium in New Delhi on Wednesday.

It was a short journey but scores of admirers who sprinted along with the vehicle transporting her body ahead of the last rites kept shouting slogans hailing the veteran politician – and frequently breaking down.

The two slogans chanted most were "Sushmaji amar rahe" and "Jab tak suraj chand rahega, Sushma tera naam rhega".

So shrill was the sloganeering that the sirens in the convoy carrying the BJP leader's body had to get louder to clear the path.

Before the body draped in the national flag was taken out of her residence, where it was kept since her death overnight, a large number of people, neighbours included, thronged the house close to Jantar Mantar monument.

Guided by a police pilot, the convoy included a white Ambassador car followed by the ambulance carrying the mortal remains. Her family was in another vehicle.

Earlier, hundreds thronged to the BJP headquarters to pay last respects to the former union minister when her body was brought there from her residence.

"Shocked to learn of the sudden demise of @SushmaSwaraj ji. I will always remember her as a dynamic and sensitive leader with the ability to empathise with the common people. Will miss her. May your soul rest in peace!," the senior Congress leader said in a tweet.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar also said he was deeply shocked to learn about Swaraj's demise. "It is a personal loss for me," he wrote on Twitter.

B S Yediyurappa, the chief minister of Karnataka, paid his last respects to the departed leader and remembered her association with the southern state.

He said Swaraj had a close connection with Karnataka since 1999, when she contested the Lok Sabha polls against UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi from Ballari.

"She made it a point to visit Ballari every year for the Varamahalakshmi pooja for a decade. She is fondly remembered by the people for such gestures," Yediyurappa said.

"May her soul rest in peace and may god give the strength to his family and loved ones to endure this loss," he said in his condolence message.

Yediyurappa also remembered Swaraj as an excellent orator and an exceptional leader who rose to great heights in her political career as a committed soldier of the country.

"Sushma Swaraj served as the minister of external affairs and was the second woman to hold the office after Indira Gandhi. Her proactive outreach to people in distress and accessibility to citizens earned her love and respect from the masses," he said.

The former Delhi chief minister was hailed as India's "best-loved politician by the global media", he added.

Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik also expressed grief over Swaraj's demise.

Describing her as a dynamic politician and a symbol of women empowerment who always worked for the country's betterment, he said it was difficult to fill the space left behind by Swaraj.

In a condolence message, Malik prayed for peace to the departed soul and strength to the bereaved family in this hour of grief.