The ashes of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee were immersed at Sangama Kshethra at Uppinangady on Saturday.

The ashes were taken out in a procession from Kundapur to Uppinangady. The procession passed through Kundapur-Udupi-Mulki-Surathkal-Kadri-B C Road-Uppinangady route.

Udupi-Chikmagaluru MP Shobha Karandlaje said Vajpayee shared a unique bond with the temple town of Udupi and it reflected through the memories he has left with the people here.

She said that the Opposition is under the wrong impression that BJP is using the death and ashes of the great leader to get sympathy votes. It is not true. The party is already popular with its pro-poor and people-friendly measures adopted by the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Vajpayee was a visionary and also he never looked upon his enemies with disrespect. He always respected his Opposition. He was above all politics and people talking against him are showing their mindset and low dignity, she described.

She said Vajpayee was popular with the people through his programmes like Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Gram Sadak Yojana and others.

He was instrumental in setting up of better roads in the rural areas, the major corridors, Kissan credit cards and most improvidently the Pokhran nuclear test, she added,

People were given an opportunity to pay tributes to Vajpayee’s ashes.