NEW DELHI, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday handed over former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's ashes to all state chiefs of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for immersion in rivers across the country.

The handover of urns containing the former prime minister's ashes took place at an event in BJP headquarters in the Indian capital, which was attended by several senior party leaders and ministers, as well as family members of Vajpayee.

The party will take out rallies in almost all states across India and then immerse the ashes in as many as rivers possible as a mark of respect to Vajpayee, sources said.

Vajpayee, the three-time Indian prime minister died at a hospital in Delhi on Aug. 16 at the age of 93 after prolonged illness, and was cremated with full state honors on Aug. 17.

The former Indian prime minister, also a poet, was elected to Lok Sabha (lower house of Parliament) from Uttar Pradesh's capital Lucknow five times -- 1991, 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2004.

He was loved by almost all Indian politicians, cutting across party lines.