By IANS
New Delhi : Vice President Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh were the first dignitaries to greet President Pratibha Patil who Wednesday celebrated her 73rd birthday – the first in the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Manmohan Singh, accompanied by his wife Gursharan Kaur, visited the president with a bouquet of roses. Madhya Pradesh Governor Balram Jakhar and Delhi Lieutenant Governor Tejendra Khanna were among a battery of people who greeted Patil on the day.
Patil, who was born on Dec 19, 1934, in Nadgaon village of Jalgaon district in Maharashtra, was also visited by group of students from her home state.
According to official sources in Rashtrapati Bhavan, the president also planted a ‘jamun’ tree, the first plant in the new Nakshatra Garden she is planning to have in the backyards of the 350-roomed presidential palace.
Patil, who took charge of the country’s highest constitutional post in July this year, succeeding an extremely popular A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, has suggested that there could be a “nakshatra van” – a garden of 27 trees linked to celestial patterns – along with the Herbal Garden and Spiritual Garden planted by Kalam. Each of the 27 nakshatras – lunar constellations – will be associated with a specific tree.
Jamun is the tree linked to the Rohini star, according to Hindu calendar.
Patil is the first woman president of India.