PM Modi Conferred With 1st Lata Deenanath Mangeshkar Award, He Dedicates it to Countrymen

At the request of PM Modi himself, he did not sit on the dais but sat among the audience on a front seat and just like a commoner stood up and walked onto the stage when his name was announced to accept the honour.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi was conferred with the 1st “Lata Deenanath Mangeshkar Award” at the 80th annual Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Awards ceremony held in Mumbai at a gleaming function held at Shanmukhananda Hall on Sunday evening. Prime Minister Narendra Modi received the first Lata Deenanath Mangeshkar Award for his selfless service to the country and society.

At the request of PM Modi himself, he did not sit on the dais but sat among the audience on a front seat and just like a commoner stood up and walked onto the stage when his name was announced to accept the honour.

“When the award is in the name of an elder sister like Lata Didi, it is a symbol of her oneness and love for me. So, it’s not possible for me not to accept. I dedicate this award to all the countrymen,” said PM Modi after receiving the award.

“The award has been instituted in the memory of Lata Mangeshkar and will be given every year to a person for an exemplary contribution towards nation-building,” said a statement by the family and the Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Smruti Pratishthan Charitable Trust.

Present on the occasion were almost the entire Mangeshkar clan, Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, and Minister Subhash Desai. Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray did not attend the event as apparently his name did not figure on the official invite.

This is the first award instituted in the memory of the late Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkar, the melody queen of India, who passed away in Mumbai on February 6, at the age of 92.