Top ministers, film stars join event to celebrate 2 yrs of Modi govt

New Delhi: Top Union Ministers on Saturday joined a gala event, which had a smattering of Bollywood actors, including megastar Amitabh Bachchan, aimed at publicising the "achievements" of the Narendra Modi government on completion of two years in office.

While the centrepiece event was held at historic India Gate in Delhi that saw Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and many of his ministerial colleagues speak at length about numerous steps taken by the government across sectors, some Cabinet Ministers joined in from different parts of the country, including Mumbai, Nagpur, Ahmedabad, Guwahati and Vijaywada.

Read: Live: Beti Bachao, Swachh Bharat focus at govt's anniversary bash

The five-hour programme 'Ek Nayi Subah', which was telecast live by Doordarshan across the country, also saw superstar Amitabh Bachchan talking about one of the government's flagship programmes 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao'.

His participation came amid questions being raised by opposition parties in the wake of his name figuring in Panama papers.

The event started with young ministers like Kiren Rijiju, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Babul Supriyo talking about 'new vision, new India' as they heaped praise on the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his vision and making efforts for effective execution of various programmes.

"He is the most youthful among us," said Rathore. Bollywood actor R Madhavan and anchor Neelam Sharma hosted the programme which was also attended by Union Ministers Birender Singh, Maneka Gandhi, Najma Heptulla, Ram Vilas Paswan, Uma Bharti, Harsimrat Kaur Badal and JP Nadda.