Former finance minister Arun Jaitley as he was cremated with full state honours at the Nigambodh Ghat on the banks of Yamuna river this afternoon.

Jaitley died on Saturday at Delhi’s AIIMS at 12.07 pm after facing several health issues for many months. He was admitted to the hospital on August 9. He was 66 years old.

Top leaders, Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nirmala Sitharaman, Smriti Irani, Kapil Sibal, Jyotiradity Scindia, Nitish Kumar and Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu were among a sea of leaders across the political spectrum to be present at the crematorium to pay their last respects to the BJP stalwart.

President Ram Nath Kovind and hundreds of leaders paid tributes to the BJP veteran last evening at his south Delhi home.

Many politicians across party line, BJP workers and general public queued up outside the BJP office where Jaitley’s casket was kept for the last homage. His family members too were also present there. Home Minister and BJP chief also Amit Shah paid his floral tributes to him at the BJP headquarters.

Mortal remains of the late leader were taken in a flower decked military cavalcade with supporters chanting Jab tak suraj chand rahega Jaitley tera naam rahega (Your name will stay as long as the sun and the moon exist) and ”Jaitley ji amar rahe” (long live Jaitley).

President Ram Nath Kovind and hundreds of leaders including Congress president Sonia Gandhi paid tributes to the BJP veteran last evening at his south Delhi home.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing Indian gathering in Bahrain on Saturday remembered Arun Jaitley, “I can’t imagine that I am so far here while my friend has gone away, My friend Arun Jaitley loved India, loved his party and loved being among people.”

A lawyer by profession, Jaitley had been an important part in Narendra Modi’s Cabinet during his first tenure as prime minister. He held the finance and defence portfolios, and often acted as the chief troubleshooter of the government.

Jaitley did not contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections presumably because of his ill-health.

His demise came weeks after former External Affairs Minister and senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj passed away late on August 6 after suffering a heart attack.