BJP Marks PM Modi's 76th Birthday with Nationwide 'Seva Diwas' Events
The BJP is observing PM Narendra Modi's 76th birthday as 'Seva Diwas', with bike rallies, blood donation camps and cleanliness drives across the country.
The Bharatiya Janata Party is marking Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 76th birthday on Thursday with a nationwide programme of service activities, observing the day as 'Seva Diwas' as part of a month-long 'Seva Sankalp Abhiyan'.
Narendra Damodardas Modi was born on 17 September 1950 in Vadnagar, Gujarat, into a middle-class Hindu family with no political background. He began his political career in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and has since led the BJP to victory in three general elections. Sworn in for a third consecutive term on 9 June 2024, he is the country's longest-serving non-Congress prime minister, a feat of three straight terms previously achieved only by Jawaharlal Nehru.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah will flag off a bike rally from Vadnagar, the prime minister's birthplace, to Varanasi, his Lok Sabha constituency. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will flag off a similar rally in the reverse direction, from Varanasi to Vadnagar. Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Union minister Anupriya Patel and BJP Yuva Morcha president Hemang Joshi are expected to be present in Vadnagar, where Shah will also take part in a 'maha-aarti' at Sharmishtha Lake and launch a cleanliness drive. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, Union minister and NDA ally Chirag Paswan and other Union ministers will attend the Varanasi flag-off.
In Delhi, BJP president Nitin Nabin will inaugurate a blood donation camp at the party headquarters before travelling to Madhya Pradesh for events in Indore and Ujjain. He will launch a statewide public welfare campaign under the Swamitva Scheme in Indore and light the 'ashirvaad ka diya' at Ram Ghat in Ujjain. On Friday, he is scheduled to attend the 'Bhasma Aarti' at the Mahakaleshwar Temple and perform a traditional puja.
A nationwide cleanliness campaign is also being organised. In the evening, programmes will be held at more than 700 locations where party leaders, workers and residents will light the 'ashirvaad ka diya', seeking the prime minister's good health and long life. The party said the campaign also marks Modi's 25 years of public service.