Arun Nehru cremated, Sonia`s grandson performs final rites

New Delhi: Arun Nehru, former union minister, was cremated here today in the presence of Sonia Gandhi and her family, including her 13-year-old grandson Raihan who lit the pyre.

Nehru, a cousin of Rajiv Gandhi during whose Prime Ministership in the 1980`s he was a powerful political figure, died last night after protracted illness. He was 69. Setting aside their differences which led to Nehru leaving the Congress party and joining V P Singh to form the Jan Morcha in 1987 after having served as Minister of State for internal security in Rajiv`s cabinet, Sonia Gandhi, her son Rahul and daughter Priyanka attended the funeral. Priyanka`s son Raihan lit the pyre. Other dignitaries present at the crematorium included Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, BJP leaders L K Advani and Arun Jaitley and Union Ministers Sachin Pilot, Anand Sharma and Farooq Abdullah. Nehru is survived by his wife Subhadra and two daughters. Lucknow-born Nehru was a three-time Lok Sabha member and had a successful career in the corporate world before joining politics in the early 1980s. Nehru was accused by the CBI of causing a loss to the exchequer in a pistol deal with Czechoslovakia in 1988 during his tenure as Minister of State. The Supreme Court had recently stayed the proceedings in the case. PTI