Swami Vivekananda's 158th birth anniversary celebrated across Bengal

Swami Vivekananda's 158th birthanniversary was celebrated on Tuesday across West Bengal withpolitical leaders and people making a beeline at his ancestralhouse here to pay tributes to him.

Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav PrasadMaurya, BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiyaand party leader Suvendu Adhikari garlanded the statue ofSwami Vivekananda at his north Kolkata residence.

Trinamool Congress MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay and stateminister Sashi Panja also paid floral tributes to him, whosebirth anniversary is celebrated as National Youth Day.

Months before the assembly elections, both the BJP andthe TMC are involved in a political one-upmanship over claimson Bengal's culture and heritage.

A towering spiritual philosopher, Vivekananda, wasborn in 1863 in Kolkata and is credited for popularising theVedantic ideas.

Taking to Twitter, Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, who isscheduled to visit Swamiji's ancestral house during the day topay tributes, said, ''Youth empowerment is key to Bharatbecoming Vishwa Guru (world leader).'' Paying tributes to Swamiji, West Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee said, ''His message of peace and universalbrotherhood is of utmost relevance today and inspires all ofus to strive hard in safeguarding these ideals in our belovednation.'' Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, leader of the Congress partyin the Lok Sabha, said the spirit that the great saintimparted to the world is eternal.

''The solution of all human problems lies in his nobleand divine thoughts,'' Chowdhury wrote on the microbloggingsite.

Trinamool Congress youth wing president and MPAbhishek Banerjee is scheduled to hold a rally here to paytributes to Swamiji.