President pays homage to Giani Zail Singh on 99th birth anniversary

New Delhi: President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday paid homage to former president Giani Zail Singh on the occasion of his 99th birth anniversary at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The President, officers and staff paid floral tributes in front of a portrait of Giani Zail Singh in the Durbar Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Giani Zail Singh was the seventh President of India, serving from 1982 to 1987.

Prior to his presidency, he was a politician with the Congress Party and had held several ministerial posts in the Union Cabinet, including that of Home Minister.

His presidency was marked by Operation Blue Star, the assassination of Indira Gandhi, and the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

Born on May 5, 1916, he died of injuries suffered in a car accident in 1994.