Don't celebrate my birthday, instead help in J&K relief work: Narendra Modi

NEW DELHI: Those curious to how Modi will celebrate his first birthday as the Prime Minister got the answer from his favourite medium of interaction – Twitter.

Tweeting in both Hindi and English, Modi who turns 64 on Wednesday, asked people to not indulge in his birthday celebrations but instead focus on relief work in Kashmir. “My humble request- do not celebrate my birthday. Instead, dedicate yourselves towards relief work in J&K through your time & resources,” he said.

Modi’s another tweet said,“On 17th, President Xi Jinping will be in Guj. We look forward to extending a warm welcome to him but there will be no birthday celebrations.” The PM also asked people to cancel any planned parties in his honor and also request people to donate generously for relief work in the floods.

Modi has always chosen his birthday to surprise people. In 2011, as the Gujarat CM he began his much famous 3-day Sadbhavna fast on his birthday after visiting his mother. The fast that he said was aimed at building harmony and brotherhood was reported widely.

In 2013, incidentally, Modi paid an unexpected visit to senior BJP leader Keshubhai Patel, who had rebelled against him and quit the BJP to float his own party.

However, in a blog post written on his 62nd birthday he said that throughout his life the birthday has been no different from any other day of his life.