Atal Bihari Vajpayee's ashes immersed in Bay of Bengal in Puducherry; Kiran Bedi pays homage, calls him India's 'father figure'

Puducherry: The ashes of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee were immersed in the Bay of Bengal on Saturday in the presence of Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi. [caption id=“attachment_5032731” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Reuters[/caption] Addressing a meeting to condole the demise of Vajpayee, the Lieutenant Governor said he was ’the father figure of the country and he would be looked up as one of the finest administrators.’ The former IPS officer also recalled how Vajpayee would listen to police officials and respect them without interfering in the discharge of their duties and in enforcement of law. President of the local unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and MLA V Saminathan read out a condolence message and all those present observed a two-minute silence in memory of Vajpayee. Leader of the Opposition N Rangasamy, Members of Parliament N Gokulakrishnan (Rajya Sabha), R Radhakrishnan (Lok Sabha) Purushothaman (AIADMK) and SP Sivakumar (DMK) were also among those present. Territorial Chief Minister V Narayanasamy and his Cabinet colleagues had paid homage to the urn containing the ashes, on Friday.