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National Icons Modi Has Invoked

News18.com

First published: January 14, 2017, 12:02 AM IST | Updated: 13 mins ago

A file image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: As Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s image — instead of Mahatma Gandhi’s photo — on the calendar and the diary of Khadi and Village Industries Commission snowballs into a political controversy, here’s a look at the national icons he has invoked till date:

January 12, 2013: To celebrate Swami Vivekananda’s 150th birth anniversary, Modi, during his tenure as Gujrat chief minister, initiates a year-long celebration.

October 31, 2013: As Gujarat CM, Modi lays the foundation stone for the world’s tallest statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

October 2, 2014
: Narendra Modi pays homage to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat where Congress leaders, too, pay tributes to the Father of the Nation.

October 31, 2014: PM announces that the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel will be observed as the ‘Rashtriya Ekta Diwas’ (National Unity Day) every year.

November 14, 2014: On 125th birth anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru, PM Modi launches Nehru portal and issues commemorative coins and launches the National Bal Swachhta Mission. The programme was extended till November 19, the birth anniversary Indira Gandhi, which is also marked as National Integration Day.

April 14, 2016: PM Modi visits Bhimrao Ambedkar’s birthplace Mhow in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore district on the Dalit icon’s 125th birth anniversary.

October 30, 2016: Modi launches BHIM app for digital payments, named after Bhimrao Ambedkar.

November 14, 2016: Modi lays foundation stones for six infrastructure development projects in eastern Uttar Pradesh on the occasion of Nehru’s birth anniversary.