BJP president JP Nadda and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will visit Shimla on Friday to pay their last respects to former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh who died on Thursday.
Mr Gandhi will pay his last respects to the departed leader at the state Congress office -- Rajiv Bhawan -- the party's working committee member Rajeev Shukla said.
A delegation of Congress leaders will represent party president Sonia Gandhi at his cremation on Saturday, Congress general secretary and chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said. The delegation will comprise Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and Congress treasurer Pawan Kumar Bansal.
Mr Nadda will pay his last respects to Virbhadra Singh at the Ridge Maidan on Friday, a BJP spokesperson said.
Earlier on July 5, Mr Nadda had enquired about Virbhadra Singh's health during his visit to Himachal Pradesh.
The 87-year-old veteran Congress leader breathed his last after prolonged illness at Shimla's Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) at 3.40 am on Thursday.
Virbhadra Singh's body was kept at his residence, Holly Lodge, for the entire day for "antim darshan".
AdvertisementOn Friday, the body will be kept at Ridge Maidan for the public to pay their last respects from 9 am to 11.30 am.
Then it will be taken to the state Congress office where it will be kept from 11.40 am to 1 pm, Shukla said.
AdvertisementThereafter, the body will be taken to Rampur by road at 1 pm and it is scheduled to reach Padam Palace there at 6 pm, a family spokesperson said.
On Saturday, the body will be kept at Padam Palace from 8 am to 2 pm before the funeral, he added.
