Amruta Fadnavis, wife of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, was among the thousands of people who wished Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his 69th birthday on Tuesday.
Wishing the Father of our Country @narendramodi ji a very Happy Birthday - who inspires us to work relentlessly towards the betterment of the society !" Ms Fadnavis tweeted, with hashtags such as #HappyBirthdayPM and #happybirthdaynarendramodi.
The Chief Minister's wife, however, faced criticism on social media over her referring to PM Modi as the "father of our country", with many pointing out that Mahatma Gandhi is called the "Father of the Nation".
Wishing the Father of our Country @narendramodi ji a very Happy Birthday - who inspires us to work relentlessly towards the betterment of the society ! #HappyBDayPMModiJi #HappyBdayPMModi #HappyBirthdayPM #happybirthdaynarendramodi pic.twitter.com/Ji2OMDmRSm
— AMRUTA FADNAVIS (@fadnavis_amruta) September 17, 2019
"When did PM Modi become father of country and how? What betterment of society really happened now with unemployment rising like never before and with economy facing slowdown," a Twitter user wrote.
Father of nation is Mahatma Gandhi and now this father of country is new When did PM Modi become father of country and how?? what betterment of society really happened now with unemployment rising like never before and with economy facing slowdownhttps://t.co/jLIW79vTYR
— Vidya (@Vidyaraj51) September 17, 2019
Father of our nation is only Mahatma Gandhi
— Sidrah (@SidrahDP) September 17, 2019
Her birthday wish on Twitter, which also has a video of her singing, has collected over 4,800 "likes.
Last October, Ms Fadnavis, debuted as playback singer in 2016, had faced a barrage of criticism over a video in which she is seen taking what appears to be a risky selfie on the edge of a cruise ship. She eventually apologised after the criticism.
Devendra Fadnavis too wished the Prime Minister, tweeting that all all welfare schemes for the poor are being successfully implemented under PM Modi's leadership.
On his birthday, PM Modi took part in various activities including a visit to the Statue of Unity and the Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narmada river. While addressing a huge gathering in Kevadiya, home to the statue of Sardar Patel, PM Modi said that Gujarat's success should be the model for the entire country and urged the people of the state to help other states with their experience in improving their quality of life.
PM Modi had his birthday lunch with his 98-year-old mother who lives near Gandhinagar.
The BJP is celebrating PM Modi's birthday as ''Seva Saptah (Service Week)'' that started on September 14. The party has announced that several social initiatives will be carried out by its leaders across the nation during this week.
Last year, PM Modi celebrated his birthday by spending time with school children from his parliamentary constituency of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.
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