Thaindian News

New Delhi, Dec 9 (IANS) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, prominent opposition leaders and scores of Congress workers were among those who greeted Congress president Sonia Gandhi on her 65th birthday Friday, which she had instructed to be celebrated low-key.

“The prime minister spoke to Gandhi over phone this (Friday) morning and conveyed best wishes for her birthday,” a spokesperson of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) told IANS.

Manmohan Singh also sent her a bouquet, he added.

Gandhi later attended parliament. Several opposition leaders including L.K Advani, Rajnath Singh and Anant Kumar (BJP), Supriya Sule (NCP), Gurudas Dasgupta (CPI) and Basudev Acharia (BJP) walked up to her in the Lok Sabha and conveyed their birthday wishes.

Gandhi, who underwent surgery abroad in August for an undisclosed ailment, had indicated earlier that the celebrations should be low-key.

Party sources said that might be the reason Manmohan Singh and senior leaders did not visit her personally. Union ministers and senior party leaders also wished her over the phone, they added.

Still, a number of leaders, including Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Reddy, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna and Jammu and Kashmir state Congress chief Saifuddin Soz reached her 10, Janpath residence and greeted her.

Gandhi had asked party workers “to avoid inconvenience to the public” while celebrating her birthday, Congress general secretary Janardhan Dwivedi had told reporters recently.

Despite this, scores of Congress workers thronged her residence since early morning beating drums and taking out processions.

Special prayers were offered at a mobile temple. Congress activists cut cakes and distributed it to the assembled people.

Gandhi is the longest-serving president of the 125-year-old Indian National Congress. She has been elected president of the Congress since 1998 when she entered active politics.

Born Antonia Edvige Albina Maino in Lusiana - a village in Veneto in Italy - Dec 9, 1946, she married former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1968 - then a student in Cambridge.

She came to India in 1968 and became an Indian citizen in 1983.

Leading the Congress back to power in 2004 after a gap of six years, she declined to become prime minister. Instead, she has been chairman of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) since then.

She is also chairperson of the National Advisory Council (NAC).

Reports from various states said that celebrations were held at Congress state headquarters and other offices.