The nation remembers former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on her 28th death anniversary today. President Pranab Mukherjee , Vice President Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh were among the first who paid floral tributes at her Samadhi ,Shakti Sthal,in New Delhi this morning. Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi and Delhi Lt Governor Tejinder Khanna were also present on the occasion. Union Ministers Sushul Kumar Shinde, Salman Khurshid, M Veerappa Moily, Kamal Nath, P K Bansal and Narayana Swamy and Deepa Dasmunsi and Chiranjeevi also joined a large number of people who paid tributes. Devotional songs were played at the venue. A speech by Indira Gandhi was also played on the occasion. Several functions are being organised across the country to mark the occasion.
Former Union Home Minister and ‘Iron Man of India’ Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was also remembered on his 137th birth anniversary today. The Prime Minister, the Lok Sabha Speaker, Home Minister Sushul Kumar Shinde, Rail minister Pawan Kuamr Bansal and Senior BJP leader L. K. Advani paid floral tributes at the portrait of Mr. Patel in the Central Hall of Parliament House.
On this occassion, the Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker Karia Munda was also present.