President Mrs Pratibha Devisingh Patil, Vice President Mohammed Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh led the nation in paying homage to the father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi on his 63rd death anniversary today . President, Vice president, Prime Minister, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj paid rich floral tributes at Gandhiji’s Samadhi Rajghat in the Capital.

Defence Minister A K Antony, former Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, chiefs of three services, central ministers, leaders of various political parties and people from different walks of life also paid tribute to the apostle of peace at his memorial.

A two minute silence was observed on AIR during All India Radio news bulletin from 11 AM to 11.02 AM to mark the Martyrdom Day. An all religion prayer meeting will also be held at Gandhi Smriti in New Delhi later today.

A multi-faith prayer service was also organised with religious leaders of Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Bahai, Christianity, Jainism, Jewish, Parsi and Sikhism participating in the programme.

The death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi is also being observed in West Bengal today with the rest of the country. The main function was held at Barrackpur Gandhi Ghat where the State Governor, Mr.M.K.Naraynan paid floral tribute at the martyrs column. The Governor also garlanded at the statue of Gandhi Ji in Kolkata. AIR correspondent reports that special prayer meeting have been organised at Gandhi Bhawan in Beliaghata to mark the day. Various other organisations are also observing the day in a befitting manner. The day is also being observed by the under trials at Presidency and Alipur Jails in Kolkata also.