The ashes of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee will be immersed in the rivers of Jharkhand, a state BJP official said in Ranchi on Saturday.

The announcement came after Chief Minister Raghubar Das on Friday night held a meeting with officials and ministers in New Delhi.

“In the meeting it was decided that the former leader’s ashes will be immersed in the rivers of the state by organising a Kalash Yatra which will move across every district,” Deepak Prakash, the Vice President for the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Jharkhand unit, told IANS.

“As per plan, the ashes will be immersed in the Ganga, Swaranrekha, Damodar, Koel Karo and Kharkai rivers,” he added.

Vajpayee had created three states including Jharkhand in 2000.

Officials have been directed to plan a route map and also fix a date.

On Friday, three-time Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was cremated with full military honours at Smriti Sthal in Delhi in the presence of a battery of dignitaries. His daughter Namita lit the pyre.

President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP chief Amit Shah, Union minister and a number of chief ministers were among those who attended the cremation. Besides, a number of dignitaries from SAARC nations and high commissioners of different countries attended the ceremony.

Earlier, thousands of people thronged the BJP headquarters to pay homage to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who passed away in New Delhi on Thursday after a prolonged illness.

The young and old, men and women, some with children, jostled outside the gates of the BJP headquarters, anxious for a last glimpse of the late leader before the state funeral at the Rashtriya Smriti Sthal on the banks of the Yamuna in the evening.

The mortal remains of Vajpayee were brought to his Krishna Menon Marg residence late Thursday evening.

The Central government has announced a seven-day state mourning as a mark of respect to the former prime minister. During this period, the national flag will be flown at half-mast throughout India.

Vajpayee, who was the first non-Congress prime minister to complete a five-year term in office, had not been in active politics since 2004 when the BJP lost the general elections after his term ended.

Soon, the BJP stalwart developed health complications and gradually faded away from public life. Admitted to AIIMS with urinary tract infection on June 11, the 93-year-old breathed his last at 5.05 pm on Thursday.