New Delhi, Nov 14 (IANS): Congress leaders, including party chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Sonia Gandhi, paid floral tributes to India's first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru on his 134th birth anniversary, with Rahul Gandhi saying that 'Mother India today needs the values of her 'Jawahar of Hind'.

Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Venugopal, and several other Congress leaders, including Ajay Maken, Manickam Tagore, paid floral tributes at Shanti Van on Tuesday morning.

In a post on X, Kharge said, "'Citizenship is in the service of the country': Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. Tribute on the birth anniversary of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru ji, who took India from zero to the pinnacle, the creator of modern India, the fearless guardian of democracy and our source of inspiration."

"His progressive ideas advanced India's social, political and economic development despite all the challenges and encouraged the people of the country to live together at every moment, without any discrimination, always keeping the country first," the Congress leader said.

Rahul Gandhi paid his tribute and in a post on X said, "Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru is a thought - of freedom, progress, justice. Mother India today needs these values of her 'Jawahar of Hind', like an ideology, in every heart."

Nehru's birthday is celebrated as the Children's Day or 'Bal Diwas'.

Nehru was born on November 14, 1889 in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj (then Allahabad).