NEW DELHI: Padmashree Pankaj Udhas rendered heartwarming ghazals as a tribute to former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri on his 111th birth anniversary.

The occasion was an ‘Evening of Ghazals’ held at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Memorial in Delhi by the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Memorial Trust.

Udhas was welcomed by former union minister and the late Prime Minister’s son Anil Shastri, and other dignitaries. The event was also witnessed by former union minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani.

Shastri, who died on 11 January 1966 in Tashkent, was known as a man of great integrity and competence. Humble, tolerant, with great inner strength and resoluteness, he was a man of the people who understood their language.

He was also a man of vision who led the country towards progress and coined the Jai Jawan Jai kisan slogan. Shastri was deeply influenced by the political teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. “Hard work is equal to prayer,” he once said, in accents profoundly reminiscent of his mentor.