The 71st Independence Day at the iconic Red Fort left an indelible mark on the minds of the people who came to witness the spectacular programme. The two hour impressive ceremony included almost an hour long speech by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, where he spoke at length about the issues affecting the common man, well coordinated march past by the armed forces of the nation, march past by the school children and the National Cadet Corps (NCC) students.
Right from talking about the issue of terror, the situation in the strife stricken Kashmir, Gorakhpur tragedy where over 60 children lost their lives due to medical negligence, One Rank One Pension scheme and its positive impact on the soldiers, demonitisation and its success, GST roll out, the Prime Minister with his speech catered to the needs of one and all.
With the sky gods favouring the national Capital, the aura at the Red Fort was marked with cheers and smiling faces of the tiny tots who came dressed up as Krishna. With Krishna Janamashtami coinciding with the Independence Day this year, hundreds of thousands of men, women and children thronged to the Walled City to hear the Prime Minister's speech.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi left literally overwhelmed by the response he received from the children at the Red Fort after he ventured forth to greet them during the Independence Day celebrations. After delivering a nearly hour-long speech from the ramparts of the iconic monument, he waved to the crowd and moved to his motorcade for departure. But, on his way out, Modi halted it and broke from the security cover to enter an enclosure where children welcomed him with loud cheers.
While Modi had last year also moved out of his security cordon to greet children, the response from the students this year was far too overwhelming as they jostled to catch a glimpse of the Prime Minister or shake hands with him. 12-year-old Khushi Sharma, a Class VII student was on cloud nine after shaking hands with him.
"He (PM) told us that we girls should focus on education and do well in life," an overjoyed Khushi said. Muskan, 12, also couldn't believe she had met the PM of the country. "We were very tired as we had come to the Red Fort at 4 am to perform at the event, but after meeting him (Modi), the weariness all vanished. Everyone jostled towards the end to meet and greet him, but I felt I was lucky," said Muskan, with a smile.
Children from various schools in Delhi had formed a 'Bharat' formation in Hindi in front of the 17th century fort, for which they said, they had practiced quite a lot in the last two weeks. A few children had also come to the venue dressed up as young lord Krishna, as the day coincided with Janmashtami.
Modi greeted them too and interacted with other children, when more students started gathering around him. The crowd soon swelled to a huge mass of children, who hankered to shake hands with him, prompting Modi's special security team to step in.
And, even, as Modi tried to walk back to his car, the overenthusiastic crowd continued to swamp the PM, even as he obliged the doting children with warm smile and gestures.
Eventually, the Prime Minister got some relief from the crowd, allowing him to move back to his car, after which the motorcade sped away.
Meanwhile, to ensure that no untoward incident occurred, Delhi Police along with contingencies of paramilitary forces had secured every nook and corner of the Red Fort.
An hour into the programme, crowds cheered on as the cavalcade of Modi entered the Red Fort area. Amongst cheers, the Prime Minister went up on the stage, waved at the audiences and went on to give show his exemplary oratory skills.
lastly, while leaving the premises of Red Fort, Prime Minister Narendra Modi surrounded by SPG commandos came forward and met the children.