Thursday saw the hashtag #HappyBdayPM rapidly trending on twitter. Modi’s official twitter account also had colourful balloons rising through the page to mark his birthday. Modi was in New Delhi on his birthday and visited the exhibition that commemorated 50 years of the 1965 Indo-Pak war, and on Friday he will be visiting his Lok Sabha constituency of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.
Greetings poured in with President Pranab Mukherjee lauding Modi’s “dynamism” and “out of the box” thinking as leaders across the political divide wished him good health and long life. In his greetings, Mukherjee said, “This special day comes as you complete more than fifteen months as the Prime Minister of our great nation. The last year has been an important period filled with significant achievements for you personally and our country.”
He added,“Your hard work, dynamism, and out of the box thinking has received wide appreciation in the country and abroad,” On twitter he said, “May the Almighty bless PM @narendramodi with good health, happiness & many more years of dedicated service to nation.”
Among those who wished the PM on twitter was Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who said, “Greetings to Prime Minister Sh Narendra Modi ji on his birthday. My prayers for his health and long life.” Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi also wished Modi: “Best wishes to Prime Minister Narendra Modiji on his birthday. @narendramodi,” he said on twitter.
Many BJP leaders also tweeted Happy Birthday wishes. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, J Jayalalithaa sent a message, “I pray that the Almighty may grant you many more years of good health and strength to serve our nation.” Union Ministers who wished him on twitter include Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, MoS Finance Jayant Sinha, Roads, Transport, and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari, and others.
Though most global leaders did not greet Modi via tweets, the PM thanked most of them like Chinese President Xi Jinping and German chancellor Angela Merkel via individual tweets.