PM Modi turns 73; President, others extend wishes
New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi turned 73 on Sunday, with President Droupadi Murmu and other dignitaries and politicians extending their best wishes to him.
The BJP will also launch "Sewa Pakhwara" from today till October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, to reach out to different sections of society with a host of welfare initiatives to mark the birthday of its preeminent leader.
Extending best wishes, the President said she wished that Modi with his foresight and strong leadership paves the way for India's development in every field during the 'Amrit Kaal'.
Lauding him as the architect of new India, Home Minister Amit Shah said he has laid a strong foundation of a grand and self-reliant India on the basis of the country's ancient heritage.
"Be it the party organisation or the government, we always get inspiration of national interest being supreme from Modi ji," he said, adding that he considered it his good fortune to serve the country under such a unique leader.
Wishing him, BJP president J P Nadda said the prime minister has given tangible shape to the Indian culture's global prestige, people's multi-dimensional development and the nation's universal progress.
Our goal of "antyodaya" (uplift of the most downtrodden) has reached every village and every section of society and has become the mantra for the resolve of having a developed India, Nadda said on X.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said Modi has not given merely a new identity to India but also enhanced its prestige in the world.
The prime minister has taken India's development to new heights, he said, wishing him a good health and long life.
The prime minister himself will be part of the launch of several development initiatives on his birthday. With 'Vishwakarma Jayanti' falling on Sunday as well, Modi will launch his government's ambitious scheme, "PM Vishwakarma", which is aimed at helping artisans and craftsmen and others engaged in traditional skills on the occasion. As practitioners of these traditional occupations come largely from Other Backward Classes, the scheme with an outlay of Rs 13,000 crore is also being seen as the ruling BJP's outreach to the politically important segment.
He is scheduled to inaugurate the first phase of the India International Convention and Expo Centre (IICC), named Yashobhoomi, in Dwarka and also the extension of the Delhi Airport Metro Express line from Dwarka Sector 21 to a new metro station at Dwarka Sector 25 as well on Sunday.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
