A prayer service for Bhagwat Jha Azad at Bhagalpur Town Hall on Monday. Picture by Amit Kumar

Bhagalpur, Oct. 10: Ashes of former chief minister Bhagwat Jha Azad were immersed in the Ganga today amid grief and condolences.

The ashes were immersed near Bateshwarsthan, a place of religious significance located 48km from the district headquarters.

“According to the last wishes of my father, he wanted his ashes to be immersed in the Ganga. We have come to Bateshwarsthan, that has proximity to Vikramshila Mahavihar, the ancient seat of learning in the world. It was my father who had initiated the excavation work carried out by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in the 1970s to dig out the world university here,” said Kirti Azad, former Indian cricketer and the BJP MP from Darbhanga.

Kirti is son of the former chief minister.

His two elder brothers, Rajvardhan and Yoshovardhan and other family members at the river accompanied Kirti. Deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi and health minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey returned from Bhagalpur after attending the mass prayer organised in the memory of Azad by party workers and social activists at the town hall this afternoon.

The BJP MPs from Bhagalpur, Shahnawaz Hussain, and Nishi Kant Dubey from Godda (the native place of Azad) with local MLAs and former Assembly Speaker and Congress MLA from Kahalgaon, Sadanand Singh, were present during the immersion of the ashes.

The ashes had arrived in Bhagalpur this morning from Patna. A special prayer was organised at the town hall to pay last tributes to the political stalwart, who was part of the freedom struggle from a very early age. Azad, from the first parliamentary election in 1952 represented Godda and Bhagalpur seats for six consecutive terms.

“Excavation of the ancient remains of Vikramshila World University, doubling of Shabganj-Kiul loop section of Eastern Railway, construction of Farakka barrage and the roadbridge across river Ganga in Bhagalpur, food processing unit, medical and engineering college, JLNMC Hospital, NTPC Kahalgaon unit, Rajmahal coal filed project at Lalmatiya in Godda are some of the major development projects which were done by Azad,” Choubey said.

The deputy chief minister said: “Azad never compromised with any unlawful activity. He always remained a bold politician. He had to lose the post of the state chief minister within a year because he had taken firm steps against the mafia in Bihar.”

According to Rajvardhan, the funeral ceremony of the leader would be performed on October 14 at Kaswa hamlet falling under Meherama block in Godda district of Jharkhand, the native place of Azad.