By IANS
New Delhi : President Pratibha Patil Monday led the nation in paying homage to late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi on his 63rd birth anniversary at a function also attended by Vice President Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The day started with the customary all religion prayers at his memorial Vir Bhumi, near Rajghat.
The late prime minister’s family – wife Sonia and children Rahul and Priyanka – as well as cabinet ministers were there to pay tribute.
A series of public functions by the Congress party, the central government and several state governments were held across the country to mark Rajiv Gandhi’s birth anniversary, also observed as Sadbhavana Diwas or National Integration Day.
A Tamil Tiger suicide bomber assassinated Rajiv Gandhi in the Tamil Nadu town of Sriperumbudur on May 21, 1991.