India bids adieu to Sushma Swaraj with teary eyes, daughter Bansuri performs her last rites

Hundreds of people, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah and veteran party leader LK Advani, bid adieu to former external affairs minister and senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj as she was cremated with full state honours at the Lodhi Road crematorium in New Delhi on Wednesday. Her daughter Bansuri Swaraj performed the last rites. She was cremated in the electric crematorium.

The body of the long-time BJP leader, who died here on Tuesday at the age of 67, was brought to the crematorium from the party office. Many jostled for a last glimpse as the casket with her mortal remains, wrapped in the tricolour, was put in the hearse in preparation for her final journey.

Bhutan's Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay, several leaders from the NDA as well the opposition, were also present.

Others tried to capture images on their mobile phones in the main hall of the BJP headquarters and outside as the van rolled across the street.

Neeti Jain, a BJP party worker, said Swaraj was an inspiration to all women who entered politics.

#WATCH Rajnath Singh, JP Nadda, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Piyush Goyal & other BJP leaders give shoulder to mortal remains of #SushmaSwaraj as they are being taken from BJP headquarters to Lodhi crematorium in Delhi. pic.twitter.com/H72kZ3lpQw

— ANI (@ANI) August 7, 2019

"I got to meet her during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls while we were taking recorded interviews for All India Radio, DD News. I clicked a picture with her and wrote, 'It was a fangirl moment for me'. My 90-year-old grandfather saw the picture and he told me, 'I am proud of you today'. Such was her charisma that people from three generations looked up to her," Jain said.

  Meena Bhati, a party worker from Uttar Pradesh, echoed Jain.

"I had to come to seek her blessings for one last time. We have all heard her speak and there are no words to describe this loss," Bhati said.

Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh said, "She was like a sister to me and an extremely polite woman. Her death is shocking to us. I still can't believe she's gone." 

(With PTI inputs)