New Delhi, June 12 :     Friends, party colleagues and mourners bid a tearful farewell to Rajesh Pilot who was cremated at Nigambodh Ghat here today. The funeral pyre was lit by Pilot's son Sachin. Throughout the day, thousands of farmers, party workers and admirers had gathered at Pilot's 10 Akbar Road residence and the Congress headquarters at 24 Akbar Road to pay their last respects. The Union Cabinet observed two minutes' silence in the leader's memory. The presence of a large and spontaneous crowd and the public expression of grief on the streets of Delhi once again confirmed that the former squadron leader of the Indian Air Force had a mass following - something most Congress stalwarts lack. The procession took three hours to cover the six-kilometre stretch from Akbar Road to Nigambodh Ghat as party workers and members of the public queued up on both sides of the road. A reminder of Rajiv Gandhi's funeral procession, the public response to Pilot was a rare sight in Delhi which is otherwise a city known for its indifference. Draped in the Congress tricolour, Pilot's last journey began from a hall in 24 Akbar Road where he had addressed the media a fortnight ago on price-rise and the deteriorating situation in Kashmir. His supporters raised slogans like 'Neta nahin fakir hai, desh ki taqdeer hai' and 'Rajesh Pilot amar rahe' even as colleagues Priya Ranjan Das Munshi and Ahmad Patel sobbed uncontrollably. Earlier, supporters of the Gujjar leader demanded a place for Pilot in the Rajghat area which has samadhis of former Prime Ministers and Mahatma Gandhi. They gheraoed Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee when he visited Pilot's residence and repeated the demand in the presence of President K.R. Narayanan. But sources said the Centre was not in a position to concede the demand due to paucity of land in the Rajghat area. Besides, it did not want to set a precedent as a samadhi for Pilot would have led to similar demands in future. So far, except for Sanjay Gandhi, only former Prime Ministers and Presidents have found a resting place near Mahatma Gandhi's samadhi. When the situation was about to take an ugly turn, Pilot's wife Rama reprimanded supporters and asked them to desist from making the demand for his cremation at Rajghat a 'political issue'. 'I appreciate your feelings and sentiments. But there should be no attempt to create a political issue by pressing for such a demand,' she said. She said it was up to the government to make suitable land available for the cremation of political leaders. One Prithvi Singh, however, tried to prevail upon her. 'Pilot was your husband but he was our leader. Let us get him what he deserved,' he said.