By IANS,
New Delhi : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh along with United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, among others, paid floral tributes in the Central Hall of parliament Tuesday on the birth anniversaries of Mahatma Gandhi and former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri.
The nation Tuesday observed the 143rd birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and 108th birth anniversary of Shastri.
Among the other leaders present were Leader of the House in Lok Sabha and union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj; BJP Parliamentary Party chairman L.K. Advani, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajeev Shukla besides several members of parliament and former MPs.
The family members of Lal Bahadur Shastri also joined the dignitaries in paying tributes to the leaders.
The Secretary-Generals of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, T.K. Viswanathan, and Shumsher K. Sheriff, respectively, also paid floral tributes to the two leaders.
The portrait of Mahatma Gandhi was unveiled in the Central Hall Aug 28, 1947 by the President of the Constituent Assembly of India Rajendra Prasad, while the portrait of Lal Bahadur Shastri was unveiled on Oct 2, 1993 by the then president Shanker Dayal Sharma.