Thousands of people across the length and breadth of the country on Sunday responded enthusiastically to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'diya jalao' appeal, coming out on their balconies and at their doorsteps with diyas (lamps), candles, torches and mobile phones even as they turned off their lights at home, in a bid to express solidarity with the nation's effort against the spread of coronavirus.
Images and videos trickling in showed residential complexes in major metro cities, including Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad among others, adhering to PM's call, as people were seen standing on their balconies with candles and 'diyas' in their hands.
Leading by example, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was seen lighting up a diya at his residence in New Delhi, which he himself shared on his official Twitter account.
Reporting from Ahmedabad, India TV's Nirnay Kapoor said that the sight of people turning off their lights collectively presented him with beautiful pictures. PM Modi's mother Heeraben was seen holding a plateful of diyas at her home in the state as well.
A family in Ahmedabad on their balcony
In Bengaluru, T Raghavan reported that many prominent neighbourhoods in the southern city had switched their lights off.
In Chennai, superstar Rajnikanth also held up a candle as he expressed solidarity with the country's fight against coronavirus.
Reporting from Mumbai, India TV's Joyeeta Mitra was standing outside Bollywood veteran Amitabh Bachchan's residence, where he could be seen holding a torch in deference to the Prime Minister's call.
A woman in Mumbai on her balcony
In Uttar Pradesh, the baton of PM's appeal was led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who was seen lighting up diyas at his official residence in Lucknow. "I thank the people of Uttar Pradesh for responding to the PM's call with such fervour. We will prevail and the coronavirus will be defeated," Yogi said.
Beautiful scenes were witnessed across the National Capital, where entire neighborhoods turned off their lights to respect the PM's appeal.
Scene around Delhi
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President JP Nadda was seen heeding to PM's clarion call in Delhi. Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region and Minister of State for Prime Minister's Office Jitendra Singh also lit diyas at their respective residences. Union Environment Minister, who also participated in the diya jalao campaign, declared that the PM's call had been largely successful.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah was also seen lighting up diyas at his residence.
Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla came out in his official residence's courtyard, along with his family members, as all of them decorated it with lit-up diyas.
In Madhya Pradesh, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan was seen following the PM's appeal by lighting up candles and diyas.
Yoga guru Baba Ramdev, meanwhile, performed a 'havan' at his ashram in Haridwar, where he also lit up diyas.
“Let’s throw a challenge to the coronavirus threat. Let us introduce it to the power of light,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said during his video message on April 3, in which he had called upon all 130 crore Indians to collectively switch off their lights and light diyas.
Also read: Know everything about PM Modi's 'diya jalao' appeal
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