New Delhi: The people of India put off lights in their residential houses and lit diyas and candles, cell phone flash lights and torch lights in their balconies and verandas on Sunday night, on the call of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

 

He urged the people to lit diyas to drive away the darkness spread by the Covid- 19 at 9 pm for 9 minutes on Sunday in the country which has crossed 3,500 cases across the country. Spiritual slogans and chants of “Bharat Mata ki Jai” were heard as well. People kept up the chanting and cheering for nearly 30 minutes, with the lamps left burning for much longer. People also kept lights switched off in their homes for much longer than the Prime Minister had asked.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi lit a lamp at his official residence in Delhi, wearing a blue kurta. In Gujarat, the Prime Minister’s mother, 93-year-old Hiraben also joined in, lighting an earthen lamp after turning off all the lights in her home. President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu and their respective families also lit lamps outside their homes, as did Home Minister Amit Shah, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister S Jaishanker, and BJP chief JP Nadda.