L K Advani's wife cremated

NEW DELHI: Friends, family and top politicians cutting across party lines today bid farewell to BJP veteran L K Advani's wife Kamla, whose mortal remains were consigned to flames here.

The body was taken to Nigam Bodh Ghat crematorium from Advani's Prithviraj Road residence, where it was kept for people to pay their last respect.

The funeral pyre of the deceased was lit by her son Jayant at around 4:30 PM.

Among those who attended the final rites were BJP chief Amit Shah, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj, Venkaiah Naidu, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Smriti Irani, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Piyush Goyal.

LG Najeeb Jung, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, BJP Vice President Vinay Sahastrabuddhe, party General Secretary (Organisation) Ram Lal, former RS MP Amar Singh, industrialist Anil Ambani, actor Ashutosh Rana and Delhi BJP chief Satish Upadhyay, besides family members of Advani, including daughter Pratibha, were present.

83-year-old Kamla died yesterday at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here due to heart failure.

She had been suffering from age-related problems for some time and was on wheelchair for the last few months.

Earlier in the day, Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti paid tributes to Kamla, saying she was a motherly figure and a "pillar of strength" to L K Advani.

"She played a big role in Advaniji's life. She never considered herself as wife of a tall leader, she always came across as a mother to us. She was a pillar of strength for Advaniji," Bharti said.