Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday turned 51, but he did not celebrate his birthday in view of the Covid pandemic.
However, wishes poured in from leaders cutting across party lines and Congress workers.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla took to Twitter to wish the Wayanad MP good health and happiness. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari too tweeted birthday greetings to Rahul saying he be blessed with good health and long life.
Chief ministers M K Stalin (Tamil Nadu), Arvind Kejriwal (Delhi), Hemant Soren (Jharkhand), Conrad Sangma (Meghalaya), Amarinder Singh (Punjab), Ashok Gehlot (Rajasthan) and Bhupesh Baghel (Chhattisgarh) and Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh) wished him on Twitter.
“Wishing my beloved brother Rahul Gandhi on his birthday and I join others in praising his selfless, untiring work to establish an egalitarian India in every aspect. His commitment to the ethos of the Congress party has been exemplary,” Stalin said on Twitter.
National Confrence leader Omar Abdullah wished Rahul good health and many years ahead in the service of the nation, while former prime minister and JD(S) president H D Devegowda tweeted, “I wish him well, and sincerely pray that his view of the world and his compassion defeats the narrowness that surrounds us.”
The Punjab chief minister said that he was proud of the Congress leader]s hard work and his abiding commitment to serve the people of the country.
His Rajasthan counterpart Gehlot said: “Rahul ji is genuinely concerned about the welfare of the poor and downtrodden. I wish he succeeds in his endeavours,”
Baghel said that it is not easy to stand before the opposing tide and Rahul is doing so and setting an example by standing above politics of compromise. Rahul responded to some of the wishes on Twitter.
While Delhi Congress observed the day as “Sewa Diwas” and distributed face masks, medicine kits and cooked meals free of cost to the poor in the national capital, the National Students Union of India (NSUI), the Congress] students] wing, organised a free vaccination camp to mark the occasion and the Youth Congress distributed free ration to the needy in Delhi.
Some state Congress committees observed the day by distributing ration and other essentials at no cost to the poor and the needy. Wishing their leader, the Congress said on Twitter, “We wish Shri Rahul Gandhi health and happiness on his birthday.”