Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday invoked late BJP stalwart and former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s famous poem ‘Aao diya jalaye’ to seek the public participation for Sunday’s 9 pm event. PM Modi in his address on Friday urged people to switch off the lights at their homes and light up lamps, candles or mobile phone torches for nine minutes at 9 pm on April 5 (Sunday) to display the country’s collective resolve to defeat coronavirus.

The 49-second video features Vajpayee reciting the poem from a stage. “Aao phir se diya jalayen” is an iconic poem penned by Atal Bihari Vajpayee. It is believed that Vajpayee penned this poem after an electoral debacle of the saffron party decades ago.

“Aao diya jalayen (come let’s light the lamp),” PM Modi captioned it.

Earlier on Friday, the Bharatiya Janata Party had tweeted the same video clip of Vajpayee to remind people to light up lamps on Sunday night.

“Let’s light the lamp again … On April 5 at 9 pm, turn off all lights in the house for 9 minutes, light a candle, lamp, flashlight or mobile flashlight on the door or balcony. Together we have to challenge the darkness of the corona crisis,” the saffron party tweeted along with Vajpayee’s video.

The poem is often used by the Bhratiya Janata Party to enthuse its cadres after any electoral loss, just like it was used after the loss in the Delhi Assembly polls in February.

According to the Union Health Ministry data, the number of coronavirus cases in the country climbed to 2,902 on Saturday while the death toll rose to 68. The highest number of confirmed cases of the pandemic was reported from Maharashtra at 423 followed by Tamil Nadu with 411 infections. The number of cases in Delhi has gone up to 386, in Kerala to 295, in Rajasthan to 179 and in Uttar Pradesh to 174.

Globally, the virus has infected over one million people and claimed nearly 60,000 lives.