Modi, Pranab, Congress leaders pay tributes to Rajiv Gandhi

New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former president Pranab Mukherjee and top Congress leaders, including party chief Sonia Gandhi and former prime minister Manmohan Singh, paid rich tributes to Rajiv Gandhi on his 75th birth anniversary on Tuesday.

At a prayer meeting organised at 'Veer Bhumi', the memorial of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, his children -- former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, paid homage along with other family members.

Former vice president Hamid Ansari also paid tribute. Remembering Rajiv Gandhi, Prime Minister Modi tweeted, "Tributes to our former PM Shri Rajiv Gandhi on his birth anniversary." A host of Congress leaders, including Ghulam Nabi Azad, Ahmed Patel, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, paid homage to the former prime minister at the prayer meeting.

An audio clip of one of Rajiv Gandhi's speeches was played in the background. The party organised a host of other programmes in the national capital and across the country to mark the occasion.

While former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh addressed a function and gave 'Rajiv Gandhi Janma Pancha Sapthathi Puraskar' to people and organisations making contributions to society, a blood donation camp was organised by the Youth Congress.

Singh also remembered Rajiv Gandhi as a visionary and illustrious prime minister who contributed a lot towards peace and national integration and harmony. Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi distributed motorised vehicles/ scooters to some disabled people at Jawahar Bhawan at Rajiv Gandhi Foundation marking the 75th birth anniversary of the former PM.