Modi turns 68; tweets, calls, messages pour in

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi received birthday greetings from all quarters, including his political rivals, on Monday, who celebrated the day in his parliamentary constituency, Varanasi.

Mr Modi thanked them for their wishes in a series of tweets. He turned 68 on Monday. President Ramnath Kovind, Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu, BJP chef Amit Shah, Congress president Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, her Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah were among the first to greet Modi.

“Birthday greetings to our Prime Minister @narendramodi. Wish him a long life and many years of dedicated service to the people of the country,” Mr Kovind tweeted.

Former president Pranab Mukherjee hoped that the Prime Minister is blessed with a long, healthy and happy life and continue to serve the nation for many more years to come.

“Pranab Da, your wishes are always a source of strength for me. Thank you,” Mr Modi responded.  

Bollywood personalities Amitabh Bachchan, Rishi Kapoor, Akshay Kumar and Madhuri Dixit also wished the Prime Minister on Twitter.

Mr Naidu, who is in Malta, called up Mr Modi to greet him. DMK leader M.K. Stalin as well as Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh, Bihar's Nitish Kumar and Odis-ha's Naveen Patnaik and Mr Modi's Cabinet colleagues, including Rajna-th Singh, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, also extended their greetings.     

Mr Shah hailed Mr Modi's leadership, saying India under him had become synonymous with development and he had infused energy into every section of society like never before.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi tweeted “Happy Birthday to our PM, Narendra Modi ji! Wishing him good health and happiness always.”

Praying for a long and healthy life for the prime minister, Mr Shah described Modi as a leader who is loved by all and has provided a decisive and visionary leadership to country. India has a government under Mr Modi, which is committed to the development of the poor, farmers and every section of society, the BJP chief said in a tweet.

Mr Modi was scheduled to be in Narur village during the day to interact with children of a primary school, which is aided by a non-profit organisation, Room to Read.

Later, at the Diesel Locomotive Works (DLW) campus, the prime minister was scheduled to interact with students of the Kashi Vidyapeeth and the children assisted by them, according to the Prime Minister's Office.