Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress President Rahul Gandhi were among the leaders who today paid tributes to Swami Vivekananda on his birth anniversary, which is also celebrated as National Youth Day. "I bow to Swami Vivekananda on his Jayanti.
Today, on National Youth Day I salute the indomitable energy and enthusiasm of our youngsters, who are the builders of New India," Modi said on Twitter. Gandhi invoked Vivekananda to say that it was duty of all to encourage everyone in their struggle to live up to their own highest idea and strive at the same time to make the ideal as near as possible to truth. "My tributes to Swami Vivekananda on his birth anniversary. #NationalYouthDay," he said on the micro-blogging site. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said he bowed before the "youth force" of the country as he tweeted a picture of Vivekananda. Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala also invoked Vivekananda's message of "arise, awake and stop not till the goal is reached" as he paid respect to the spiritual leader. "I bow before India's great saint, symbol of harmony and source of inspiration for the youth on his birth anniversary," Surjewala tweeted. Swami Vivekananda was born on this day in 1863 in Kolkata. He passed away on July 4, 1902 at the age of 39.
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