On the 103rd anniversary of his passing, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to Lokmanya Tilak on Tuesday.
On Lokmanya Tilak’s Punya Tithi, a post on PM Modi’s official Twitter account stated, “I pay homage to Lokmanya Tilak.” According to a statement made on Sunday by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Prime Minister Modi will visit Pune on Tuesday and lay the cornerstone for several development projects.
Further, as per the statement, he will be conferred with the Lokmanya Tilak National Award at an event where he will share the stage with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Sharad Pawar.
Taking to Twitter, PM Modi said that he was humbled to have been picked for this honor.
“I will be in Pune today, where I will accept the Lokmanya Tilak National Award. I am indeed humbled that I have been conferred this award, which is closely associated with the work of such a great personality in our history,” PM Modi added in his tweet.
The Award was constituted by Tilak Smarak Mandir Trust in 1983, to honour the legacy of Lokmanya Tilak. The award is given to people who have worked for the progress and development of the nation and whose contributions can only be looked upon as remarkable and extraordinary. It is presented every year on August 1st — Lokmanya Tilak’s death anniversary.
The Prime Minister will be the award’s 41st winner. Legendary figures like Shankar Dayal Sharma, Pranab Mukherjee, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Indira Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, NR Narayana Murthy, and E Sreedharan are among the previous honorees.
“At around 11 am, Prime Minister will perform Darshan and Pooja at Dagdusheth Mandir. At 11:45 am, he will be conferred Lokmanya Tilak National Award. Thereafter, at 12:45 pm, Prime Minister will flag off metro trains and inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of various development projects,” read the official statement from the PMO.