In pictures: Congress and BJP vie for Gandhi's legacy

SUMMARY

India’s biggest political parties are vying for the political legacy of iconic independence leader Mahatma Gandhi on the 150th anniversary of his birth.

By APOct 2, 2019 10:08:45 AM IST (Published)

School children re-enact the assassination of India's independence leader Mahatma Gandhi during an event to celebrate his 150th birth anniversary in New Delhi. India’s biggest political parties are vying for the political legacy of iconic independence leader Mahatma Gandhi on the 150th anniversary of his birth. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

A schoolgirl holds a placard as they participate in an event to celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of India's independence leader Mahatma Gandhi in New Delhi. Both BJP and Congress have ordered officials to undertake Gandhi-inspired pilgrimages, walking up to 15 kilometers (9 miles) a day in their constituencies and sleeping in villages, beginning on Wednesday, the 150th anniversary of Gandhi's birth and a national holiday in India. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

A schoolgirl listens to the recreated heartbeat of India's independence leader Mahatma Gandhi at Gandhi museum on the eve of his 150th birth anniversary in New Delhi. Congress, now the main opposition party, enjoyed decades of popularity after independence but suffered huge losses in the last two general elections. The BJP, on the other hand, won a landslide victory in this spring's polls. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

A school boy dressed as Mahatma Gandhi stands next to a bust of Gandhi at Gandhi museum on the eve of his 150th birth anniversary in New Delhi. While Congress seems like the natural heir - Gandhi himself led the party in the 1920s - its recent weak leadership has allowed the BJP to create several splashy Gandhi-inspired programs and co-opt Gandhi's legacy into its agenda. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

A schoolgirl looks at photographs of Mahatma Gandhi during India's freedom movement, at Gandhi museum on the eve of his 150th birth anniversary in New Delhi. Congress party's interim president, Sonia Gandhi, will lead her own Gandhi-inspired foot-pilgrimage in Delhi from the party headquarters to Mahatma Gandhi's burial place on the Yamuna River. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

School children dress up as statues depicting Indian freedom leader Mahatma Gandhi's Dandi March, on the eve of Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary in New Delhi. Dandi March is the name given to the Salt Satyagraha (Salt March) where Gandhi and other freedom fighters marched 241 miles to the sea to make their own salt on April 6, 1930 as an act of civil disobedience against the British colonial rule. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

A school teacher Dresses up as a girl as a statue depicting Indian freedom leader Mahatma Gandhi's Dandi March, on the eve of Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary in New Delhi. Beyond Gandhi, the BJP has moved in recent years to claim that many of India's founding fathers - including Sardhar Patel, the country's first deputy prime minister, and Babasaheb Ambedkar. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

School children dress up as statues depicting Indian freedom leader Mahatma Gandhi's Dandi March. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

School children dressed as statues, depicting Indian freedom leader Mahatma Gandhi's Dandi March, cross a road to perform at a traffic intersection on the eve of Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary in New Delhi. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)