VARANASI, Aug. 7 -- The last rites of Uma Shankar Singh, the lone Bahujan Samaj Party's (BSP) legislator in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, were performed with state honours at the Ganga ghat in Ballia district on Friday. The late MLA's son Prince aka Yukesh Singh lit the pyre in the presence of a huge crowd.

Earlier, thousands of people paid their last respect to Singh at his ancestral place in that district's Khanwar village. Singh, 55, who was the MLA from Rasra seat in Ballia, died after prolonged illness on Wednesday evening.

Ballia district magistrate Mangla Prasad Singh and superintendent of police Omvir Singh also visited the MLA's residence to pay their respects to the departed soul. The late legislator's funeral procession passed ...