The birth anniversaries of Mahatma Gandhi and lal Bahadur Shastri were commemorated in towns across the State.
In Dehradun, the Congress party organised tree plantation to mark the occasion. Congress leader and the CM’s son Saket Bahuguna, his wife Gauri Bahuguna, Rajpur Road MlA Rajkumar and MCD leader of opposition Neenu Sehgal participated in the tree plantation while former CM Maj Gen (retd) BC Khanduri, Dehradun Mayor Vinod Chamoli and BJP State chief Tirath Singh Rawat paid homage to the also paid respects to the national leaders on the occasion.
In the Kumaon region, citizens remembered Gandhi and Shastri with rallies involving school children conducted in different parts of this region apart from which various social organisations also organised programmes to pay tributes to Gandhi and Shastri.
A rally involving school children, representatives from different social and religious organisations was taken out in the lake city Nainital on Wednesday.
The Nainital district administration also launched a special cleanliness drive in different parts of the district involving the respective civic bodies on this occasion. After the rally, the tri colour was unfurled at all Government and semi Government offices across the region and floral tributes were paid to Gandhi and Shashtri in the lake city Nainital, Haldwani and other parts of the district.
Paying tributes to the late leaders in the lake city Nainital, the Kumaon Commissioner AS Nayal, said it is an important occasion with the nation commemorating the birth anniversaries of two greater leaders of India.
Both the great leaders left indelible marks at national and international levels. He exhorted the people to follow their ideals and contribute to national development. In the meanwhile, in Udham Singh Nagar, officials led by District Magistrate Brijesh Kumar Sant, paid floral tributes to the two national leaders at the collectorate.
Speaking on this occasion, Sant said that Gandhi’s ideals of non-violence, peace and love are more relevant in the present materialistic world. He exhorted the people to take inspiration from Shastri’s ideal of simple living high thinking. Similar programmes were also held in Almora, Bageshwar, Champawat and Pithoragarh.
In Pauri, District Magistrate said exhorted the gathering to imbibe the ideals espoused by Gandhi and Shastri. He also paid tribute to the Statehood activists who lost their lives during the Statehood movement.
A cross country race and speech competion for education institutes were also held on the occasion. In the morning local students took out a Prabhat Feri.