Chandigarh, April 26
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday paid floral tributes to Parkash Singh Badal at the Shiromani Akali Dal office here as scores of people and political leaders assembled to pay homage to the five-time Punjab chief minister.
After arriving in Chandigarh, Modi reached the SAD office accompanied by Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit and Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.
The prime minister laid a wreath on the mortal remains of Badal and then sat beside SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal. Modi was seen holding the hands of Sukhbir Singh Badal, expressing grief over the passing away of the SAD chief’s father.
Modi stayed at the SAD office for a few minutes. Later in a tweet, he said, “Paid homage to Shri Parkash Singh Badal Ji.”
In the afternoon, a bedecked ambulance carrying the Akali patriarch’s mortal remains headed from here to his native village Badal in Muktsar district.
As the vehicle carrying Badal’s mortal remains headed to Muktsar, party supporters and many common people, including women, stood along both sides of the highway to catch a glimpse of their beloved leader. The party workers with moist eyes also showered petals on the ambulance.
Badal was admitted to the Fortis Hospital in Mohali on April 16 after he complained of uneasiness in breathing. He died on Tuesday aged 95.
The Punjab government and the Chandigarh administration declared a public holiday on Thursday as a mark of respect to the former chief minister. All Punjab government offices, departments, boards, corporations and educational institutions in the state will remain shut on Thursday.
The Punjab government also postponed the cabinet meeting scheduled for Thursday to Friday.
Badal’s son Sukhbir Singh Badal, with eyes welled up, was sitting with folded hands on the front seat of the ambulance, which was driven by former state minister and his brother-in-law Bikram Singh Majithia.
The procession en route to Muktsar had to move slowly at many places because of the presence of a huge number of people turning up on the road to pay their homage.
The ambulance reached village Badal at around 10 pm, covering around 270 km via Rajpura, Patiala, Sangrur, Barnala, Rampura Phul and Bathinda.
The last rites will be held at the village at 1 pm, party leaders said.
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