Kathmandu, March 22: Former prime minister and Nepali Congress leader G P Koirala was cremated with full state honours in accordance with vedic rites at Aryaghat on the bank of the Bagmati river on Sunday evening.
His daughter and Deputy Prime Minister Sujata Koirala lit the funeral pyre as the Prime Minister, members of the Cabinet and representatives of the international community paid their tribute. Koirala (87) died on Saturday following pulmonary complications, loss of blood and severe diahhorea.
A high-powered Indian delegation comprising members of the government as well as the Opposition placed wreaths over Koirala’s body at the national stadium on Sunday afternoon. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Foreign Affairs Minister S M Krishna, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, CPM’s Sitaram Yechury and BJP’s Rajnath Singh paid tribute to Koirala referring to him as the pillar of democracy and a person admired in India.
Streams of visitors thronged the residence of Sujata on Sunday morning. Many followed the funeral procession while it made its way to the party office and then to the national stadium where it was kept almost for five hours.
Even as Koirala’s death leaves a leadership vacuum in the Nepali Congress, second-rung leaders put up a united front on this solemn occasion. Former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, working president Sushil Koirala, Congress Parliamentary leader Ramchandra Poudel and Sujata Koirala were part of the funeral procession. The presence of these leaders, many think, was an apparent message that the Nepali Congress will embark on an era of collective leadership.
Prachanda and Baburam Bhattarai, the two stalwarts of the Maoist party, were at Aryaghat throughout, clearly expressing homage to the leader who brought them into the peace process.
—-Agencies