New Delhi, Aug 17: The mortal remains of Atal Bihari Vajpayee has been brought at the BJP headquarters in Delhi for paying last respects. Atal Bihari Vajpayee breathed his last at AIIMS after a prolonged illness on Thursday evening. Doordarshan News channel is telecasting live streaming of Vajpayee's funeral and last rites. Scroll down to watch online live streaming of Atal Bihari Vajpayee's final journey. Catch live updates on Vajpayee's funeral here.

On Thursday, BJP chief Amit Shah said the funeral procession of Atal Bihari Vajpayee will begin at 1:00 pm. Vajpayee will be laid to rest at Smriti Sthal at 4:00 pm, Shah added. Congress President Rahul Gandhi, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and all the three armed forces chiefs on Friday led a host of leaders in paying homage to the former Prime Minister.

Elaborate security arrangements have been made in the national capital for the final journey and funeral ceremony of Vajpayee. "We have made elaborate security arrangements for the last rites and the procession ahead of it. We will ensure that people who come to pay their last respect and the commuters face minimum inconvenience," Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Madhur Verma told IANS.

Vajpayee became the Prime Minister first in May 1996 for 13 days and again in March 1998 till 2004. With his swearing-in as Prime Minister after the Lok Sabha polls of October 1999, Vajpayee became the first and only person after Jawaharlal Nehru to occupy the Office of the Prime Minister of India for three successive Lok Sabhas. He was awarded India's highest civilian honour Bharat Ratna in 2015.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 17, 2018 01:28 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).