India: Admirer makes 1,500-kilogram sweet for Modi’s 67th birthday

**By APD writer Rishika Chauhan

**

NEW DELHI, September 18 (APD) - An admirer of Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a 1,500-kilogram Indian sweet known as laddu to celebrate Modi’s 67th birthday in Lucknow on Sunday.

1500 kilogram laddu (Indian sweet)

He also made a 110-feet-tall and 35-feet wide cut-out of Modi and conducted special religious ceremonies and prayed for the prime minister’s long life.

Prime Minister's 110-feet-tall cut-out

The admirer, Nripendra Pandey, is a lawyer by profession and is also a member of Bharatiya Janata Party, the political party that Modi belongs to.

Pandey had earlier walked 1,200 kilometres from Lucknow city in Uttar Pradesh province to Ahmadabad in Gujarat to meet the prime minister’s mother and seek her blessings.

“A special ritual has been arranged at the temple in the district collectorate. The temple authorities will ring the 105-kilogram ‘Damodar Ghanta’ (temple bell) followed by prayers after which Indian sweets—67 kilogram of ‘boondi laddu’ and 1,500 kilogram of ‘besan laddu’ will be distributed among the people”, said Nripendra Pandey speaking to the media.

Modi inaugurating Sardar Sarovar Dam

The prime minister’s cut-out has been designed by Zulfiqur Hussain, who was assisted by artisans especially hired from Dubai. The cut out was installed in front of an official building of the province of Uttar Pradesh.

Meanwhile, Modi inaugurated world's second biggest dam on his birthday.

The dam, called Sardar Sarovar Dam is in the province of Gujarat, and the inauguration comes nearly six decades after its foundation stone was laid.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)