Vice President and Prime Minister attend prayer meeting at Gandhi Smriti

A prayer meeting was organised at Gandhi Smriti on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti in New Delhi. Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar and PM Modi attended the prayer meet.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankar attended a prayer meet organised at Gandhi Smriti on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti on Sunday.

Earlier today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid floral tributes to Mahatma Gandhi and former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri on their birth anniversary at the Parliament House. PM Modi had also visited Rajghat, the final resting place of the Mahatma, and Vijay Ghat, the memorial of Shastri, earlier today.

Paying homage to Mahatma Gandhi on his 153rd birth anniversary, PM Modi tweeted, "This Gandhi Jayanti is, even more, special because India marks Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. I also urge you to purchase Khadi and handicrafts products as tribute to Gandhi Ji."

Paying tributes to Shastri, he said, "Lal Bahadur Shastri Ji is admired all across India for his simplicity and decisiveness. His tough leadership at a crucial time in our history will always be remembered. Tributes to him on his Jayanti."

PM Modi also shared glimpses of Shastri's gallery at the Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya in Delhi and urged the people to visit the museum. Earlier today, President Droupadi Murmu and Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar paid tributes to Gandhi and Shastri on their birth anniversary at Rajghat and Vijay Ghat respectively.

To mark the occasion, the Parliamentary Research and Training Institute for Democracies, Lok Sabha Secretariat, and the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, organised a programme in the Central Hall of the Parliament House, the government said in a statement.

Ninety-nine young students from schools and colleges across the country participated in the event. All the participants paid floral tributes to the national leaders and visited the chambers of both the Houses and Parliament Library.

Out of the total, 30 students spoke about the contributions of our national leaders in the development of the country.

Born on October 2, 1869, in Porbandar town of Gujarat, Mahatma Gandhi or Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi adopted a non-violent resistance and was at the forefront of the freedom struggle against British colonial rule.

Born in Uttar Pradesh in 1904, Lal Bahadur Shastri was the second Prime Minister of India and served from 1964 to 1966. He died in Tashkent on January 11, 1966, at the age of 61, soon after signing the Tashkent Pact with Pakistan.

Globally, Gandhi's birth anniversary is celebrated as the International Day of Non-Violence. Several events are held in India and across the world to mark the occasion. (ANI)