PM Modi pays tribute to socialist icon Ram Manohar Lohia, freedom fighters

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday paid tribute to socialist icon Ram Manohar Lohia on his 114th birth anniversary, saying he was a pillar of politics in independent India after playing an active role in the freedom movement.

He will always be remembered for his robust socialist views, Modi said in a post in Hindi on X.

डॉ. राम मनोहर लोहिया जी को उनकी जन्म-जयंती पर आदरपूर्ण श्रद्धांजलि। आजादी के आंदोलन में सक्रिय भूमिका निभाने के बाद वे स्वतंत्र भारत की राजनीति के भी एक मजबूत आधारस्तंभ बने रहे। अपने प्रखर समाजवादी विचारों के लिए वे सदैव स्मरणीय रहेंगे।

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 23, 2024

Born in Uttar Pradesh, Lohia is credited with shaping the politics centred on the empowerment of traditionally deprived communities, playing a key role in boosting opposition forces against the then-dominant Congress.

In another post in Hindi, Modi paid homage to revolutionary freedom fighters Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru, who were hanged by the British for their role in the Lahore conspiracy case.

The nation is reverently remembering the sacrifice of these "true sons of Ma Bharti", Modi said, paying tribute to the trio on 'Shaheed Diwas'.

The three revolutionaries joined hands to oppose British rule, with Singh throwing a bomb in the Central Legislative Assembly in April 1929. The bomb was not intended to kill anyone but to highlight their protest.

They were hanged on this day in 1931. All three of them were less than 25 years old at the time of their deaths.