LUCKNOW, July 11 -- A series of religious ceremonies, community outreach programmes and welfare initiatives across state capital on Friday marked the 75th birthday of defence minister Rajnath Singh who represents Lucknow in the Lok Sabha. Bharatiya Janata Party's Lucknow unit organised various events at temples, a gurudwara, a madrasa, a Sanskrit college, hospitals and social welfare institutions. The main event was a Sundarkand recital at Hanuman Setu where BJP leaders and workers gathered to pray for Singh's long life. Party's Lucknow district unit chief Anand Dwivedi inaugurated the programme. Deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak, cabinet minister Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary, BJP state vice-president Neeraj Singh, MLC Mukesh Sharma and several public representatives and party office-bearers were present on the occasion. Senior social workers and BJP workers, including Subhash Agarwal, Ajay Arora, Brij Kishore Dwivedi, Sadhna Verma, Madhuri Shukla, Om Prakash Dhanuk, Dr Vivek, Ram Ratan Maurya and Ramchandra Chaurasia, were felicitated at the event in recognition of their contribution to public service. Addressing the gathering, deputy CM Brajesh Pathak described Singh's public life as an example of simplicity, integrity, discipline and dedicated national service. Minister Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary recalled defence minister's organisational journey from district president to national BJP president, saying his leadership continues to inspire party workers across the country. BJP state vice-president Neeraj Singh said Rajnath Singh carried forward former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's vision for Lucknow and helped transform it through world-class development projects....