Mumbai to host Vajpayee's 91st birthday fete

A host of Bollywood actors and singers would come together to celebrate former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's 91st birthday at a cultural programme to be held in Mumbai, a Bharatiya Janata Party leader said on Friday.

The former prime minister, who has been a poet and journalist, was born on December 25, 1924.

"Actors and singers such as Padmini Kolhapure, Manoj Joshi, Sudha Chandran, BJP MP Manoj Tiwari, Anup Jalota, Kumar Sanu, Deepika Chikhalia and Shabbir Kumar would be among the prominent figures who would perform during 'Atal Geet Ganga', a poetry event to celebrate Vajpayee's 91st birthday in Mumbai on December 25, 2015," Amarjeet Mishra, general secretary of the Mumbai BJP, said.

The event would be held at Dinanath Mangeshkar Auditorium in suburban Vile Parle.

"Besides recitation of the BJP veteran's cherished poems, recorded versions of his poems by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik, Union Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma, Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani, Mathura MP Hema Malini, singer Udit Narayan, music composer Anu Malik, actor Vivek Oberoi, etc would be played on the occasion," Mishra said.

The event would be a gesture to express reverence for the Bharat Ratna awardee, the BJP leader said.