NEW DELHI, Sep 17: Prime Minister Narendra Modi turned 75 on Wednesday, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) launching a fortnight-long “Sewa Pakhwada” to celebrate the occasion through welfare, outreach, and development programmes across the country until October 2.
The BJP-led governments at the Centre and in states have lined up a wide range of activities, including health camps, cleanliness drives, intellectual meet-ups, and fairs promoting indigenous products. The campaign is designed to highlight the government’s focus on public service and social welfare.
On his birthday, Modi visited Dhar in Madhya Pradesh to inaugurate a nationwide campaign dedicated to women’s and children’s health and nutrition. He also unveiled several new development programmes, with a special emphasis on the welfare of tribal communities, and addressed a public gathering.
Prominent BJP leaders and Union ministers extended warm wishes to Modi. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh praised his visionary leadership, noting that he has strengthened India’s global standing and given the nation new direction. Party president J. P. Nadda lauded his efforts to build an aatmanirbhar and Viksit Bharat, while Union minister Nitin Gadkari called him the “world’s most popular leader,” wishing India under his leadership becomes a self-reliant vishwaguru.
Modi, who has been Prime Minister since 2014, is now the third-longest serving PM in India’s history, after Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, and the second-longest to serve uninterrupted. Under his leadership, the BJP has expanded its political reach across the country, surpassing the Congress in electoral dominance.
Despite a setback in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, where the party fell short of a majority, the BJP has regained momentum with recent assembly poll victories in Haryana and Maharashtra.