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The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, UPA Chairperson, Ms Sonia Gandhi, former PM, Deve Gowda were among dignitaries and top political leaders, who reached Puttaparthi to pay their last respects to Sathya Sai Baba today.
Queues extending to five km were witnessed throughout the day, as a few lakhs of devotees of Baba from across the country and world have been descending on this small town in Anantapur district in the last couple of days. The 85-year-old spiritual guru passed away on Sunday.
The Foreign Minister, Mr S.M. Krishna, the Gujarat Chief Minister, Mr Narendra Modi, the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy, former Sri Lankan cricket skipper, Arjuna Ranatunga and V.V.S. Laxman also paid homage to Sai Baba, whose body was kept at Sai Kulwant Hall for the public to pay their respects.
Last glimpse
In view of the huge outpouring of devotees to have a last glimpse of Baba, authorities have extended the time till late night from the original 6 p.m. set to make arrangements for the State funeral for the departed spiritual guru scheduled for Wednesday morning. The funeral is expected to be a restricted affair.
Tough call
It was a tough call for the security forces, Sathya Sai Trust members and the police to organise and control the emotional people. Reports of devotees complaining to the authorities of the difficulty to get a glimpse of Baba were many.
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