It was indeed a very sad moment that the preservation of memorabilia of a leader of the stature of Dr Rajendra Prasad faced a threat recently, chief minister Nitish Kumar said here on Saturday. He was referring to the planned auction of 18-carat pink gold Rolex Oyster Perpetual wrist watch of the first President of India by Sotheby's in Geneva. He was speaking at a function organized to commemorate the 127th birth anniversary of Deshratna Dr Rajendra Prasad.

I have written a letter to the prime minister to stop the auction, the CM said, adding the Indian government should make an all-out effort to bring back the watch.

Throwing light on the simplicity of Dr Prasad, who even after assuming the highest office kept himself away from pomp and show, Nitish said when Dr Prasad demitted the office of President of the country, he could have easily settled in Delhi, but he chose Patna as he do not want to live away from his roots. Today is the time we should emulate his ideals in our own lives. "Only economic prosperity should not be the goal; culture, societal changes, art, science and 'neeti shastra' have an equally important place in overall development."

Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi recalled an event from his childhood days, "One day, I was standing near St. Xavier's High School near Gandhi Maidan, when I saw a funeral procession hardly accompanied by a few hundred people. When I asked a passer-by whose funeral procession it was, pat came the reply, 'It is of country's first President Dr Rajendra Prasad.' I was stunned at the simplicity of the procession, which speaks of Rajendra Babu's personality."

Several other speakers, including former governor of Tripura and Chhattisgarh, D N Sahay, chairman, Bihar assembly, Uday Narayan Choudhary, and eminent doctor Padmashri Dr Gopal Prasad Sinha, spoke on the occasion.

Cine star and Patna Saheb MP Shatrughan Sinha, referring to the Time magazine devoting four pages to the achievements of Nitish Kumar, said Nitish was on his way to preserving the legacy of Dr Rajendra Prasad through his sheer dedication towards work for the betterment of the state.