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Updated: Oct 02, 2019 09:25 IST

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi on the occasion of his 150th birth anniversary.

The PM reached Raj Ghat, the samadhi of the Father of the Nation, in the morning and paid floral tributes. He was accompanied by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and BJP’s interim president JP Nadda.

In a tweet, PM Modi expressed gratitude to Mahatma Gandhi “for his everlasting contribution to humanity” and “pledged to continue to work hard to realise his dreams”.

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राष्ट्रपिता महात्मा गांधी को उनकी 150वीं जन्म-जयंती पर शत-शत नमन।



Tributes to beloved Bapu! On #Gandhi150, we express gratitude to Mahatma Gandhi for his everlasting contribution to humanity. We pledge to continue working hard to realise his dreams and create a better planet. pic.twitter.com/4y0HqBO762 — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) 2 October 2019

He also visited Vijay Ghat, the memorial of former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, who shares his birthday with Mahatma Gandhi.

Paying tribute to Lal Bahadur Shastri, the prime minister, in a tweet, said “Salute to former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri ji on his birth anniversary with the proclamation of ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan”

‘जय जवान जय किसान’ के उद्घोष से देश में नव-ऊर्जा का संचार करने वाले पूर्व प्रधानमंत्री लाल बहादुर शास्त्री जी को उनकी जयंती पर शत-शत नमन। pic.twitter.com/Vr9KddOUf5 — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) 2 October 2019

Later in the day, the prime minister will fly out to Ahmedabad for a visit to Sabarmati Ashram. He will participate in the Swachh Bharat Diwas 2019 programme there in the evening. He will declare India open defecation-free from the Sabarmati Riverfront and address a gathering of over 20,000 sarpanchs.

“Nearly half of the sarpanchs will be from Gujarat and rest from other states,” Gujarat deputy chief minister Nitin Patel had said earlier. “The first step towards swachhta has been achieved by making the country open defecation-free. This will be announced by the PM on October 2 at Ahmedabad during the national sarpanch convention.”