Kolkata, May 9 -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday felicitated and took blessings from senior BJP worker Makhanlal Sarkar at Kolkata's Brigade Parade Ground during the swearing-in ceremony in West Bengal.

At the age of 98, Sarkar remains one of the early grassroots figures associated with the nationalist movement in post-Independence India.

In 1952, he was arrested in Kashmir while accompanying Syama Prasad Mukherjee during the movement to hoist the Indian tricolour there.

After the formation of the BJP in 1980, he became the organisational coordinator for West Dinajpur, Jalpaiguri, and Darjeeling districts. Within just one year, he helped enrol nearly 10,000 members.

From 1981 onward, he served continuously for seven years as...