New Delhi: Top BJP functionaries showered accolades on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his 71st birthday Friday, with party president J.P. Nadda describing him as a “rajarshi” (ruler-sage), former health minister Harsh Vardhan calling him a “yugpurush” (man of the age), and former law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad holding a havan in his honour. Former education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’, meanwhile, found it a “unique plan of God” that in 1950, the nation got its own Constitution and a “nation-builder like you” was born.
Other leaders wrote articles, blog posts and tweets full of praises for their leader. While many of them wrote in Marathi and English daily Lokmat, Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chauhan wrote a blog post on the PM in Hindi, while some leaders took part in social work or religious activities to mark the day.
Among non-BJP leaders, Telangana CM K. Chandrashekar Rao wrote a letter to Modi, saying, “On behalf of the government and people of Telangana, I wish you a very happy birthday. May God bless you with good health and long life for serving the nation for many more years.”
The BJP has also launched a 20-day long ‘Seva aur Samarpan Abhiyan’ to celebrate PM Modi’s birthday and 20 years in public life, and plans to organise various social-service activities and events throughout this period.
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Nadda leads tributes
In a signed article in Hindi newspaper Dainik Jagran, Nadda said that after former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, Modi was the only leader on whose appeal the country comes together. “(India’s) Success in the recent Olympic and Paralympics also has an imprint of his (Modi’s) decisions,” Nadda wrote.
Nadda also penned an article on the PM in Times of India, hailing him as the reformer who cares about social causes. In another article in Lokmat, he wrote, “The charisma of Narendra Modi, his strong political and emotional bondings have swayed the people of India”.
Vice president Venkaiyah Naidu also addressed a letter to the prime minister in Hindi on social media.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, in his article in Lokmat, praised PM Modi’s decision-making during the Uri surgical strike and during the stand-off with China in Ladakh last year.
Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari described the PM as “an epitome of awesome self-confidence” and also hailed India’s Covid vaccination programme under his leadership.
Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri wrote that the PM is “not constrained by the challenges around him but has dared to define his age and shape the destiny of our nation”. He further wrote that India was lucky to have him as a leader when the pandemic hit.
Newly inducted minister and former Congressman Jyotiraditya Scindia praised the Modi government’s abrogation of Article 370, ban on triple talaq and focus on “self-reliant” India.
A common theme in all the articles and wishes by BJP leaders was Modi’s focus on ‘Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas’.
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Former ministers’ wishes
Even former ministers who lost their posts during the major cabinet reshuffle in July had only words of praise for the PM.
Harsh Vardhan, the former health minister, called PM Modi a “yugpurush” that the country had waited an aeon for.
“His life is a textbook of insightful lessons for aspiring leaders ..he disrupted the status quo & his bold leadership created a permanent seat of honour for us in modern history! A trailblazer who inspires great dreams”, said Harsh Vardhan in a tweet.
Former I&B minister Prakash Javadekar called Modi an “adbhut neta” (wonderful leader), who has given the country transparent and corruption-free government.
नरेंद्र मोदी के रूप में देश और दुनिया को एक अद्भुत नेता मिला है।उन्होंने ?? को भष्टाचारमुक्त व पारदर्शी सरकार दी।
अपने निर्णायक और दूरदर्शी नेतृत्व से भारत को विश्वपटल पर विकास व प्रगति का प्रयाय बनानेवाले यशस्वी प्रधानमंत्री श्री @narendramodi जी को जन्मदिन की हार्दिक शुभकामनाएं pic.twitter.com/lFrq5wAFIg
— Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) September 17, 2021
Ravi Shankar Prasad, former law minister, also participated in a ‘havan’ and Covid vaccination drive being organised on the PM’s birthday and inaugurated an exhibition on his life’s journey in Patna.
प्रधानमंत्री श्री नरेन्द्र मोदी जी का जीवन सरलता और समाज के प्रति समर्पण का अद्भुत उदाहरण है। देश ही नहीं दुनिया भर में उनके प्रेरक व्यक्तित्व से लोग शिक्षा ले रहे हैं। आज उनके जन्मदिवस पर उनके जीवन वृत्त पर आधारित चित्र प्रदर्शनी का उद्दघाटन भाजपा प्रदेश कार्यालय, पटना में किया। pic.twitter.com/HH3JFz6uuW
— Ravi Shankar Prasad (@rsprasad) September 17, 2021
Meanwhile, former education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ shared a video created to wish the PM, and stated on Twitter, “I consider it to be the unique plan of God that in the year 1950, on the one hand, our nation appeared in its new form with its own constitution, on the other hand a nation-builder like you was born in the form of a vigilant watchdog of that constitution.”(E
मैं इसे ईश्वर की विलक्षण योजना ही मानता हूं कि वर्ष 1950 में एक और हमारे राष्ट्र का अपने संविधान के साथ एक नया आविर्भाव हुआ तो दूसरी ओर उस संविधान के सजग प्रहरी के रूप में आप जैसे राष्ट्र-शिल्पी का जन्म हुआ।#HappyBdayModiji
— Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank (@DrRPNishank) September 17, 2021
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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