PTI

New Delhi, Oct 31: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi led the nation on Tuesday in paying tributes to the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on the 22nd anniversary of her death.

Singh and the Congress chief placed flower petals at the samadhi of Indira Gandhi as vocalists sang hymns during a remembrance ceremony at the tightly-guarded Shakti Sthal in New Delhi.

Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, Union Minister of State for Urban Development Ajay Maken, former Bihar Governor Buta Singh and All India Anti-Terrorism Front chief M S Bitta were among those present at the event.

Indira Gandhi was assassinated on October 31, 1984 by her Sikh bodyguards in retaliation for Operation Blue Star at the Golden Temple that June.

Scores of Congress activists shouted "long-live Indira" slogans as an audio recording of her speech was played on loudspeakers.