India Pays Tributes to Indira Gandhi on Her 94th Birthday

The President, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil paying floral tributes at the Samadhi of former Prime Minister, Late Smt. Indira Gandhi, on her 94th Birth Anniversary, at Shakti Sthal, in Delhi on November 19, 2011. The Union Minister for Urban Development, Shri Kamal Nath and Dr. Devisingh Ramsingh Shekhawat are also seen. PIB Photo

NEW DELHI (NNN-Bernama) -- The nation remembered former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on her 94th birth anniversary on Saturday with President Pratibha Patil and Vice President Hamid Ansari among prominent personalities who paid rich tributes to the leader.

The leaders offered floral tributes at her memorial Shakti Sthal on the banks of river Yamuna, reports Press Trust of India (PTI).

Besides Patil and Ansari, UPA (United Progressive Alliance) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi, Union Ministers Ghulam Nabi Azad, Kamal Nath, Sushil Kumar Shinde and Krishna Tirath and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia were among those who visited the memorial.

Gandhi, born on Nov 19, 1917 in the politically influential Nehru family, was the first woman Prime Minister of India.

Her father Jawaharlal Nehru was a pivotal figure in the Indian independence movement and the first Prime Minister of independent India.

After Nehru's death in 1964, she became a Rajya Sabha (upper house of Parliament) member and was inducted in Lal Bahadur Shastri's cabinet as Minister of Information and Broadcasting.

She held three consecutive terms as Prime Minister from 1966 to 1977. The Congress leader was assassinated on Oct 31, 1984. -- NNN-BERNAMA