An 'eventful' birthday

Veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L K Advani (pictured) celebrated his 90th birthday on Wednesday by hosting visually impaired children at his home in New Delhi for breakfast. Leaders from across the political spectrum — Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former prime minister Manmohan Singh and Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi — wished Advani. Lok Sabha member Shatrughan Sinha wished him in person. 

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar also tweeted their wishes. Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad lived up to his reputation for humour. In his tweet, Prasad said: “Warm birthday greetings to Advani Ji! Never mind if any disciple turns hostile.”

If anyone was confused about the identity of the disciple, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala dispelled that at his party’s press briefing on the anniversary of demonetisation. He reminded journalists that it was the birthday of Advani, who had once described the PM as an “event manager” and quipped that was how the BJP government at the Centre was “celebrating” the first anniversary of demonetisation, instead of apologising to the country.