Modi pays tributes to ex-PM Chandra Shekhar on his birth anniversary

Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tributes to former prime minister Chandra Shekhar on his birth anniversary on Sunday, saying he was a towering personality who was widely admired for his commitment to democratic values and efforts to remove poverty.

Chandra Shekhar, who served as prime minister from November 10, 1990 to June 21, 1991, headed a government of a breakaway faction of the Janata Dal with outside support from the Indian National Congress.

''Chandra Shekhar Ji was a towering personality who was widely admired for his commitment to democratic values and efforts to remove poverty,'' Modi said in a tweet.

''He always worked for the welfare of the downtrodden and marginalised,'' the prime minister said.

Tributes to him on his birth anniversary, he added.