The funeral of former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, who died in the Ahmedabad plane crash, will be held with full state honours on Monday. The identity of his body was confirmed after a DNA test on Sunday, three days after the Air India flight crash on Thursday.
Rupani was en route to London to visit his wife and daughter when the plane crashed moments after take-off from the Ahmedabad airport. Out of the 242 passengers and crew onboard, only one survived the crash, marking it as one of the deadliest accidents in India's aviation history. The Air India flight 171, belonging to the Boeing Dreamliner 787-8 fleet, crashed into the hostel building of the BJ Medical College.
Rupani's son, Rishabh Rupani, had submitted his DNA sample on Saturday for the identification process.
The former Gujarat CM's funeral will be held today in his hometown, Rajkot, with full state honours, as confirmed by Gujarat Health Minister Rushikesh Patel on Sunday. Rupani's family is expected to arrive at Ahmedabad's Civil Hospital at 11 am to collect his body.
#WATCH | #AirIndiaPlaneCrash | Family of former CM Vijay Rupani leaves from their residence in Gandhinagar, for Ahmedabad.
The mortal remains of the former CM will be handed over to them by Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad shortly. The mortal remains will be taken to Rajkot by air… pic.twitter.com/43fi9jA5JTUnion Home Minister Amit Shah will be among the dignitaries to attend the funeral. He will first visit Rupani's residence to pay his respects before flying to Rajkot. Shah is scheduled to reach Rajkot by 3 p.m. and will be present at the final rites to be held at Ramnath crematorium. Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel will also likely attend the funeral.
The mortal remains of the late BJP leader will be taken to Rajkot by air and brought there at 2 p.m. His final rites are scheduled for 5 p.m. The hearse van carrying his mortal remains will be decorated with around 2,000 kilograms of flowers, as thousands are expected to join the procession to pay their last respects.
Earlier, emotional visuals emerged from Rupani's residence in Gandhinagar. His personal secretary Shailesh Mandalia and other close aides were seen in tears as they remembered the late leader.
#WATCH | Gujarat: Personal Secretary of former CM Vijay Rupani, Shailesh Mandalia gets emotional as he remembers the late leader. Visuals from Vijay Rupani's residence in Gandhinagar. #AirIndiaPlaneCrash pic.twitter.com/TE7t0MMUEj
Rupani was the 16th CM of Gujarat, holding office from August 2016 to September 2021. He stepped down from the post ahead of the 2022 state Assembly elections.
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