Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday paid a tribute to 'Punjab Kesari' Lala Lajpat Rai on his birth anniversary.
Taking to microblogging website Twitter, Yogi said that the nation will be indebted to his unforgettable struggle and sacrifice in the freedom movement.
"A humble tribute to the great freedom fighter, Swadeshi and ardent supporter of Swaraj, the immortal son of Mother Bharati, 'Punjab Kesari' Lala Lajpat Rai Ji on his birth anniversary. This nation will always be indebted to you for your unforgettable struggle and sacrifice in the freedom movement. Salute you," Yogi tweeted in Hindi.
Born in 1865 in a village in Punjab province, Rai, was one of the tallest figures in the Indian Independence movement.
Popularly known as 'Punjab Kesari (The Lion of Punjab)', Rai along with Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Bipin Chandra Pal formed the trinity -- Lal, Bal, Pal of the freedom movement.
He advocated the swadeshi movement and led the boycott of all imported goods in the early 1900s.
Rai breathed his last on November 17, 1928 after becoming a target of a lathi charge by the British Police on a procession led by him to oppose the Simon Commission to study constitutional reforms in India, then a British colony.
