Parliamentarians pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi, Lal Bahadur Shashtri on their birth anniversary

Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Arjun Ram Meghwal and other MPs paid floral tributes at the portraits of Mahatma Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Shastri in the Central Hall of the Parliament House on the occasion of their birth anniversaries on Friday.

The Committee on Public Accounts Chairperson Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury was also among the MPs and former MPs who led the Parliamentarians in paying floral tributes at the portraits of Mahatma Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Shastri.

Lok Sabha Secretary-General Snehlata Shrivastava also paid floral tributes on the occasion.

The portrait of Mahatma Gandhi was unveiled in the Central Hall on August 28, 1947, by the President of the Constituent Assembly of India Dr Rajendra Prasad, while the portrait of Shastri was unveiled on October 2, 1993, by the then President of India, Dr Shankar Dayal Sharma.

Earlier today, President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and others also extended greetings on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. Globally, Gandhi's birth anniversary is celebrated as the International Day of Non-Violence.

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

( With inputs from ANI )