Ahmedabad Plane Crash: Former Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani’s Funeral To Be Held Today With Full State Honours
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.
June 16, 2025
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
June 16, 2025Rupani 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.
-
Why Amazon And Flipkart Are Struggling To Beat Meesho In India's Smaller Cities
With 274 million users and lowest-cost logistics, Meesho is defending its value commerce crown against giants like Amazon and Flipkart.
-
High US Salaries, No Green Card Certainty: The Financial Calculation Facing Indian H-1B Families
The suspension of PERM processing at eight technology employers does not cancel existing H-1B visas. What it does is force a question many Indian families have been avoiding: is the US salary worth tying your career and family plans to one employer?
-
Swiggy vs Eternal: Food Delivery's Two Rivals Are No Longer In The Same Race
Eternal is building a private AI assistant, dark.ai. Swiggy is still working out how to make Instamart pay, with an operating loss of Rs 895 crore in the July-September quarter while Blinkit stayed profitable.
-
Where You Live Shapes How You Get To Work | The Reason Why
Two-wheelers are the most popular way to get to work in India, accounting for nearly 43% of workplace commutes.
-
Unhedged Position: Can India See An Indonesia-Style Time Correction?
The Nifty is trading below levels it first clocked in 2024. Is there, then, as I have suggested in the headline, potential that the current time correction drags on painfully for the next three-five, even ten years?
-
Navigating Friction And Energy Realities: An Analysis Of Marco Rubio's October Visit To India
Occurring at a critical juncture marked by stalled trade negotiations and escalating geopolitical pressures over global energy supplies, the visit offers a profound window into modern US-India relations.
-
India Exports Capital. Why Not Export Trusteeship?
The big question, then, is whether India can build an institution that global borrowers, investors, banks, and lawyers can trust, even without an Indian connection.
-
France's Economy & Politics Are In Crisis | The Reason Why
Let's look at how the French economy and politics evolved under Nicolas Sarkozy, Franois Hollande and Emmanuel Macron.
-
You May Inherit The Business. You Must Earn Its Credibility.
Succession tests the founder's ability to share authority as much as it tests the next generation's readiness to assume it.
-
Signing Deals Is One Thing; Making Them Work Is Another | The Week In Whys
Sometimes, things don't turn out as planned. Indian companies have lost some bids to rivals, some projects won't produce until 2030.
