By IANS
New Delhi : The 43rd death anniversary of India's first prime minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was observed Sunday as leaders paid homage to him at his memorial in the capital.
Top leaders including Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Home Minister Shivraj Patil and Congress President Sonia Gandhi went to his memorial Shanti Van amid tight security.
Offering floral tributes and performing the customary round of the memorial, they attended an all-religion prayer meeting.
To mark the occasion, the central and Delhi governments brought out advertisements in local newspapers focusing on the interest evinced by Nehru on social welfare programmes.
Nehru died at the age of 74 after leading the country from August 15, 1947 to May 27, 1964 as the prime minister.
"We know about Pandit Nehru through text books and his role in building an industrial India. If there had been a film on him like Mahatma Gandhi, we would have known more about him," said a college student in the city.