Mumbai, Jul 18 (IANS): Bharatiya Janata Party leader, RSS ideologue and two-time Rajya Sabha member Bal Apte was cremated here Wednesday, with thousands attending the last rites.

A mammoth funeral procession wound its way from Apte's home in Matunga to the Dadar crematorium in Shivaji Park.

The funeral was attended by BJP president Nitin Gadkari and party leaders L.K. Advani, Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley, Shahnawaz Hussain, Ravishankar Prasad and Sushil Modi besides those from Maharashtra.

Apte, 73, who was admitted to Hinduja Hospital July 6 following respiratory problems and a chronic lung ailment, breathed his last at his house.

A prominent lawyer and former additional advocate general of Maharashtra, Apte was elected twice to the Rajya Sabha, in 2000 and 2006.

He also served as the BJP vice president in 2002-10 and held various posts in the party and parliament. He was jailed during Indira Gandhi's 1975-77 Emergency period.