While addressing the nation from the ramparts of the historical Red Fort at the 68th Independence Day celebrations, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was at his rhetoric best on Friday.
Breaking away from the conventional style of his predecessors, Modi talked extempore to a zealous crowd of thousands who had gathered the venue early in the morning. For the first time, the PM stood behind the shield of a bulletproof glass enclosure despite threat perceptions. He even interacted with students personally while departing the Red Fort after the ceremony.
Sporting a traditional Indian headgear saffron-green pagdi, Modi truly lived up to the expectations of the people waiting enthusiastically to hear him deliver for the first time from the ramparts. Much to the applause of the people, the PM started his speech referring to himself as the Pradhan Sevak of this country. Modi also went a step ahead with his indirect declaration of being a representative of the people. Tight security arrangements the venue left people running in circles to find their places to sit however they did not complain. Nonetheless, Modi was not too wary and preferred to give his speech on an open podium and even mingled with the crowd.
After giving his speech, when Modi was leaving the venue, he got down from his car and broke away from the SPG security cover he had to meet a group of school children, adding to their cheer. Students were thrilled to interact with him even though it was for a very short time. Modi also walked into another crowd of children and shook hands with them.
Rashid Khan, a Class VII student at Khalsa School in lajpat Nagar, was among the few lucky children who received greetings from Modi in person. “I could not believe that the Prime Minister of India himself would shake hands with me and greet ‘Happy Independence Day’. I really liked his speech and we never thought that on his way back, he would stop by and talk to us,” said Rashid.
Students had come since early morning to perform at the venue, thus, even those who couldn’t shake hands with him were equally happy just to see from close distance. Sanskar, a student from a Government school in Ramesh Nagar, said, “Though I couldn’t shake hands with the PM, we were very happy and surprised to see him walk right into our group.”
Hundreds of students from several colleges of Delhi University, Jamia Millia Islamia and Indraprastha University, too, thronged to the historic Red Fort in large numbers to hear Modi’s speech on Friday.
“Before today, I never came to Red Fort to attend any Independence Day programme. As Modi is popular, especially among the youth, I decided to hear his speech and see him unfurling national flag from the ramparts of Red Fort,” said Rukhsar, a journalism student from Jamia Millia Islamia, who was excited to be at the venue.