Jawaharlal Nehru 56th death anniversary: Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi, Arvind Kejriwal pay tributes to first PM and 'architect of modern India'

India is observing the 56th death anniversary of its first prime minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru on Wednesday. He was the longest-serving prime minister and assumed office in 1947, the year when India got its independence from British rule. Nehru held office until his death on 27 May, 1964.

According to a report by , Pandit Nehru’s political awakening happened when he learnt about the arrest of Annie Besant in 1917. He then had joined the All India Home Rule League.

Nehru was born on 14 November, 1889 into a Kashmiri family in Allahabad. As a part of the freedom struggle, he was imprisoned a number of times. He had joined the Indian National Congress in 1919 and became the General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee in September 1923.

Several leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, took to social media to pay tributes to Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru on his 56th death anniversary.

Through a series of posts applauding Nehru's vision for India, the Congress dedicated the hashtag 'India Thanks Nehruji' on Twitter. "Your vision gave us a thriving democracy, your rationality helped us strive towards development and your empathetic nature taught us tolerance & brotherhood," a tweet read.

While Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal thanked him for laying the "foundation of modern, progressive democracy, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh recalled a statement made by Mahatma Gandhi about the Nehru. Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar and Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav praised the statesman, freedom fighter and architect of modern India.