Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], November 20 (ANI): On her 108th birth anniversary, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Wednesday said that Indira Gandhi was the 'finest and strongest' leader of the last century and had the courage to 'break' Pakistan and create Bangladesh.

Speaking at an event organised at the KPCC office to celebrate the birth anniversary of Indira Gandhi, he said, 'We are celebrating the birth anniversary of the Iron Lady of India. Sonia Gandhi had asked me to develop the area around Indira Gandhi's tomb. She had also asked us to develop the Rajiv Gandhi tomb at Sri Perambadur. We had the pleasure of laying the granite from our quarry there.'

'It was Indira Gandhi who launched a 20-point programme to eradicate poverty. It was she who gave land to the tiller in the country. Lakhs of people in the state benefited from that. Nationalisation of the bank was done by her. She started pollution control birds across the country. She is the one who introduced old age and widow pension,' he recalled.

A book penned by the Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson, Sonia Gandhi, was translated into Kannada and launched on Wednesday.

'Sonia Gandhi had penned a book on Indira Gandhi. I have got this book translated into Kannada and it was released today,' he said.

'Indira Gandhi was the finest and strongest leader of the last century. She had the courage to break Pakistan into two and create Bangladesh. The relationship of India with its neighbours was great when she was in power. Now, many of our neighbours are not with India,' he added.

Meanwhile, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, alongwith Congress leaders, paid floral tributes to former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi at Central Hall in the Parliament on her 108th birth anniversary on Wednesday.

Born on November 19, 1917, to India's first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Kamala Nehru, Indira Gandhi served as the first and only woman prime minister from January 1966 to March 1977 and again from January 1980 until her assassination in October 1984.

Also known as the 'Iron Lady of India,' Indira Gandhi was actively involved in the freedom movements, including starting the 'Bal Charkha Sangh' and 'Vanar Sena' to support the Congress during the Civil Disobedience movement and fight against the British forces. (ANI)