Akali stalwart Parkash Singh Badal was cremated with full state honours at his ancestral village in Punjab's Muktsar district on Thursday with thousands of mourners and leaders across the political spectrum paying their last respects to the five-time chief minister.
Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal lit the funeral pyre at a special platform erected for the last rites as a Punjab Police contingent accorded a gun salute.
Wrapped in the Tricolour, Badal's mortal remains were taken to the family's farmland, around a kilometer from his residence where it was kept for people to have the last darshan, on a flower-bedecked tractor-trolley with his son Sukhbir Singh Badal and other family members standing with folded hands on it.
Sukhbir's wife and former union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, their two daughters and a son, were present alongside Manpreet Badal's son and daughter.
Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann also paid homage to the leader at the cremation ground.
Badal was not keeping well for sometime and was admitted to the Fortis Hospital in Mohali on April 16 after he complained of uneasiness in breathing. He died there on Tuesday, nine days after being admitted there. He was 95.
People from all walks of life including politicians and religious leaders turned up at the village to pay tribute to the leader whose political career began seven decades ago when he became the sarpanch of Badal panchayat.
Bharatiya Janata Party president JP Nadda, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar, National Conference's Omar Abdullah, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and senior BJP leader Tarun Chugh visited the Badal village to pay their homage.
Former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Congress leader Deepender Hooda, Punjab BJP chief Ashwani Sharma, Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring and former Punjab minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa also attended the last rites.
"Badal sahab was not a leader, he was a statesman," Nadda told reporters. "Badal's personality impacted everyone. The Welfare of farmers, poor and the downtrodden was always on his mind."
Nadda recalled when he invited Badal for his son's wedding earlier this year, he telephoned him and gave blessings and said he had great desire to attend the event but his health did not allow him.
Bhupinder Singh Hooda remembered Badal as a man with humility who commanded love and respect from all. Pawar said Badal's contributions in various fields cannot be forgotten.
Like former deputy prime minister Devi Lal, Pawar said, Badal championed the cause of farmers. "We had family relations with Badal sahab... We have lost our senior leader.".
Heavy security arrangements were made in the village in view of the visits by the political leaders.
Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, senior BJP leader Tarun Chugh, Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala, and former Union minister Praful Patel also paid homage to the former chief minister.
Former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Congress leader Deepender Hooda, Punjab BJP chief Ashwani Sharma, Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring and former Punjab minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa also attended the last rites.
In the morning, the mortal remains were kept for the last 'darshan' at his residence.
People in huge numbers queued up there to pay tribute and express grief.
Sukhbir Badal and his wife Harsimrat Kaur Badal could be seen in tears as people visited their residence and offered them condolences.
Their two daughters and a son also stood beside the mortal remains.
Former finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal, Parkash Singh Badal's estranged nephew and former minister Bikram Singh Majithia were also present among other leaders.
The grand old man of Punjab politics first became chief minister in 1970, heading a coalition government that did not complete its term.
He served as chief minister in 1977-80, 1997-2002, 2007-12 and 2012-2017.
He became MLA 11 times, losing an election for the state assembly only twice.
In 1977, he joined Morarji Desai's government briefly as the Agriculture minister at the Centre.
In 2008, Badal handed over the reins of the SAD, which he had headed from 1995, to son Sukhbir Singh Badal, who also became the deputy chief minister under him.
Born on December 8, 1927 in Abul Khurana near Malout, Badal graduated from the Forman Christian College in Lahore.
He entered the state assembly from Malout in 1957 as the Congress nominee. In 1969, he won the Gidderbaha assembly seat on the SAD ticket.
Badal's wife Surinder Kaur Badal died of cancer in 2011.
They had two children -- Sukhbir Singh Badal, the heir to his political legacy, and Parneet Kaur, who is married to former minister Adesh Pratap Singh Kairon.
SAD chief Sukhbir Badal's wife is Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal.
