India observes May Day

On the day, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje tweeted: "On Labour Day, we show our utmost gratitude for the invaluable contributions of our Worker brothers & sisters in building our Nation."

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan posted: "1st May is May Day. 16th May is payday. A hard work of our team will be paid off. But today just labour. All the very best."

Wishing two Indian states for attaining statehood on this day, journalist Rajdeep Sardesai ‏tweeted: "Suprabhat! Happy bday to the state of my birth and my mother state! Gujarat and Maharashtra: 2 states, 1 India!"

Actor Shreyas Talpade tweeted:"Jai Maharashtra."

May Day is related to the Celtic festival of Beltane and the Germanic festival of Walpurgis Night.

May Day falls exactly half a year from Nov 1, another cross-quarter day which is also associated with various northern European pagan and the year in the Northern hemisphere, and it has traditionally been an occasion for popular and often raucous celebrations.

The day is also known as International Workers' Day. It is a celebration of the international labour movement and left-wing movements.

Across different parts of the world, the day commonly witnesses organized street demonstrations and marches by working people and their labour unions.

May 1 is a national holiday in more than 80 countries. It is also celebrated unofficially in many other countries.

May Day is a nationwide bank and public holiday in India.

The holiday is tied to labour movements for communist and socialist political parties.

In Maharashtra and Gujarat, it is officially called Maharashtra Day ('Maharashtra Din') and Gujarat Day respectively, since on this day in 1960 each attained statehood, after the old Bombay State became divided on linguistic lines.

The first May Day celebration in India was organised in Madras (now Chennai) by the Labour Kisan Party of Hindustan on May 1, 1923.

This was also the first time the red flag was used in India.

Image: Wikimedia Commons