Union minister and Lok Janshakti Party founder Ram Vilas Paswan was consigned to flames on the banks of the Ganga at Digha here on Saturday amid chants of “dharti gunje aasmaan, Ram Vilas Paswan” (Earth and sky echo, Ram Vilas Paswan) and demands for Bharat Ratna and a memorial in Delhi.

A large crowd accompanied his body to the cremation ground while thousands more had converged there to be a witness to the last rites. Some had come from Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Punjab, Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Kerala just to be there.

Ram Vilas’s son and Jamui MP Chirag Paswan lit the funeral pyre in the presence of his mother Reena and other family members. The rituals were conducted with full state honours.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi, Union ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad, Giriraj Singh, Nityanand Rai, leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, Jan Adhikar Party leader Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav were present.

Ram Vilas, 74, had succumbed to heart-related ailments at a private hospital in Delhi on Thursday. His body was brought to Patna on a special IAF flight on Friday evening. It was taken to the Vidhan Sabha, LJP headquarters and then to his home in the city.

Ram Vilas’s first wife Rajkumari Devi, whom he had divorced in 1981, paid a visit at his house here on Saturday.

Before the funeral, Ram Vilas’s younger brother Pashupati Kumar Paras said: “Ram Vilas ji should be given Bharat Ratna by the central government. His residence in Delhi should be turned into a memorial as a fitting tribute to a leader who worked for the uplift of the poor.”

Ram Vilas’s death has turned the upcoming Bihar elections into an acid test for his son Chirag. The young leader has now a strong grip on his party and is trying to establish himself as a political force. But the guiding and protective presence is gone now.

“Chirag’s earlier decision to influence his father to join the NDA ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls paid rich dividends. However, in a new gambit, he has taken on Nitish. The coming months are going to be make or break for him as Nitish is a hard nut and a veteran politician. Ram Vilas’s departure at this juncture has taken away a vast reservoir of experience and political acumen from which Chirag could have benefited,” a senior LJP leader told The Telegraph on the condition of anonymity.

However, he asserted that there would be a sympathy wave in favour of Chirag.

However, a JDU leader said: “Sympathy wave occurs mainly if a person has died of unnatural causes or if it has been untimely. Chirag may get a few more votes in the name of Ram Vilas, but there would be no sympathy wave.”

The presence of Nitish at the funeral was seen by many as a posturing for the Scheduled Castes, who account for around 16 per cent of the electorate.

“Nitish or for that matter any worthwhile leader or any party would not like to fall foul of the Scheduled Castes in this election season. His (Nitish’s) presence at the funeral was also necessitated by Chirag’s recent allegations that he had insulted Ram Vilas,” a senior politician quipped.