Mumbai: On behalf of the Indian government, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday paid respects to industrialist Ratan Tata in Mumbai.
Shah arrived at the National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA) in south Mumbai with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis and Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal.
Shah paid homage to the mortal remains of Tata on behalf of the Government of India as Prime Minister Narendra Modi left for Laos to attend the ASEAN-India and East Asia summits.
Maharashtra government has declared one day of mourning today (October 10) and all state entertainment events are cancelled. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has announced that Ratan Tata's funeral will be carried with full state honours. The funeral will be performed the evening in Worli.
Leaders Pay Last Respects
Meanwhile, on Thursday morning, the Maharashtra Cabinet passed a resolution urging Centre to confer Bharat Ratna to late Ratan Tata. The cabinet also observed a moment of silence paying respects to Tata.
Dy CM Ajit Pawar and NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar offered their last respects to Ratan Tata at NCPA. MPs Supriya Sule and Praful Patel were also present.
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief and former Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray along with his son, MLA Aadtiya Thackeray and other Sene UBT leaders Anil Desai and Arvind Sawant also paid last tributes to Ratan Tata.
Funeral At Worli
Mortal remains of Tata will be taken to Worli after 4 pm. The funeral with state honours will be done at Worli at 5 pm. The last rites will be performed at the Prayer Hall attached to the Worli crematorium. The Prayer Hall at Worli is set up by prominent Parsis as an alternative to the Tower of Silence at Malabar Hill for last rites.
To allow smooth transit, the Mumbai police have closed the Marine Drive road for vehicular traffic and traffic restrictions are implemented. The police have established a green corridor and vehicles of the rapid action force along with other security forces are deployed in Nariman Point.
