Nation recalls its father & salutes indomitable spirit

New Delhi, Oct. 2: An outpouring of tributes, marches and commemorative events marked the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on Wednesday, and parties jostled to capitalise on the legacy of the man whose ideas and ideals were instrumental in shaping India’s freedom struggle and post-Independence journey.

President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the nation in paying rich tributes to the father of the nation at his memorial in Rajghat.

While BJP president Amit Shah led the BJP’s ‘Sankalp Yatra’ in the capital, Rahul Gandhi took out the Congress’ ‘Gandhi Sandesh Yatra’.

Numerous events were organised by various government departments, ministries and voluntary organisations to celebrate life and legacy of Gandhi, who besides leading the freedom struggle also inspired millions of people across the globe, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul in New Delhi.

including leaders such as Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr and the Dalai Lama.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi, former prime minister Manmohan Singh, BJP veteran L.K. Advani, Union ministers Piyush Goyal and Hardeep Singh Puri, and BJP working president J.P. Nadda were among those who paid floral tributes to the father of the nation.

Taking to Twitter, the Prime Minister said the nation expresses its gratitude to Gandhi for his everlasting contribution

to humanity. “We pledge to continue working hard to realise his dreams and create a better planet,” he wrote on Twitter. In a short video on Gandhi, Mr Modi said his message of peace is still relevant to the world community.

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi said on Twitter, “On his 150th Jayanti, my tributes to Mahatma Gandhi Ji, the ‘Father of the Nation’, who through his words & deeds, showed us that love for all living beings & non violence is the only way to defeat oppression, bigotry & hatred.”