Tributes to beloved Bapu at Raj Ghat

New Delhi: As India marks the 150^th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi today, celebrations will be in full swing across the nation. Top BJP leaders, including PM Narendra Modi visited Rajghat in the morning to pay homage to the father of the nation.

Congress interim chief Sonia Gandhi will also be at Rajghat. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Modi, who launched the ‘Swachh Bharat’ campaign in 2014, will declare the country open defecation-free at the Sabarmati Ashram in Gujarat in the evening.

The BJP and the Congress, which are making efforts to claim Mahatma Gandhi’s legacy, have planned various events across the country on Gandhi Jayanti.

PM Modi, who has a packed schedule, began his day with a visit to Rajghat, the resting place of the Mahatma and paid floral tribute. “Tributes to beloved Bapu! On #Gandhi150, we express gratitude to Mahatma Gandhi for his everlasting contribution to humanity. We pledge to continue working hard to realise his dreams and create a better planet,” the Prime Minister tweeted.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi too paid her tribute at Rajghat shortly before PM Modi arrived.

PM Modi will also visit Vijayghat, the resting place of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, who also shares his birthday with Gandhi.

The Prime Minister will next go to parliament where he will pay floral tributes to both leaders. Later in the evening, he will fly to Ahmedabad and visit the Sabarmati Ashram where he will declare the country open defecation-free (ODF) in the presence of over 20,000 village heads, a BJP leader was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

Congress leaders, meanwhile, will hold marches across the country. Party president Sonia Gandhi will lead one such march in Delhi. While Rahul Gandhi will hold a march in Maharashtra’s Wardha, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra lead a similar one in Lucknow.