Modi pays tributes to Syam Prasad Mookherjee
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, Union Minister for Finance, Corporate Affairs and Defence, Arun Jaitley, the Union Minister for External Affairs and Overseas Indian Affairs, Sushma Swaraj, Union Minister for Minority Affairs, Najma A Heptulla and others paid floral tributes to Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee, on the occasion of his birth anniversary, in Central Hall of Parliament in New Delhi on 6 July, 2014.PIB

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, 6 July, led his ministerial colleagues and leaders of BJP in paying tribute to Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee on his birth anniversary. Modi said that Mookerjee's contribution to the nation is invaluable.

The Prime Minister, along with Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien and BJP patriarch LK Advani paid floral tributes to Mookerjee at the Central Hall in Parliament House, The Hindu reported.

"If there was something that mattered most to Dr. Mookerjee it was serving people. He always spoke about education for the youth. His contribution to our nation is invaluable," Modi tweeted.

Following Modi, several ministers, including Railway Minister Sadananda Gowda, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, Kalraj Mishra, Jitendra Singh and Manoj Sinha also paid tributes to Mookerjee.

The Secretaries-General of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, P Sreedharan and Shumsher K. Sheriff, respectively also paid tributes to the late leader.

Mookerjee was born in 1901. The Lok Sabha Secretariat has brought out a booklet on Mookerjee in both Hindi and English, which was presented to all dignitaries at the function.

In Hyderabad, BJP Telangana unit president Kishan Reddy said that with the inspiration of Mookerjee, BJP is ruling the country. He praised Mookerjee as a great leader who sacrificed his life for the nation's integrity and unity. BJP is working on the party's principles, he said, adding that youth in the country should pursue Mookherjee's footsteps.