Prime Minister Narendra Modi (Source: Reuters/File)
Continuing the tradition started by Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hoist the national flag and address the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort on Tuesday to mark the 71st Independence Day. Here is all that is going to happen tomorrow.
Upon on his arrival at Lahori Gate of Red Fort, PM Modi will be received by Defence Minister Arun Jaitley, Minister of State for Defence Dr. Subhash Bhamre and Defence Secretary Sanjay Mitra. He will then be escorted to the Saluting Base where a combined Inter-Services and Police Guard will present him the general salute. He will then inspect the Guard of Honour contingent which comprises of one officer and 24 men each from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Delhi Police. The Guard of Honour is positioned right in front of the National Flag across the moat.
This year, the Army has been chosen as the Coordinating service. The Guard of Honour will hence be commanded by Lt Col Dheeraj Singh of the Indian Army. The Army contingent is drawn from the 8th Jammu & Kashmir Light Infantry (Siachen)and will be commanded by Major Sourav Goswami. The Navy contingent in the PM’S Guard will be headed by Lt Cdr VV Krishnan, while Sqn Ldr Salil Sharma will lead the charge of the Air Force contingent. The Delhi Police contingent will be led by ACP Ankit Chauahan.
After the Guard is inspected, PM Modi will move towards the ramparts where Defence Minister Arun Jaitley will greet him. Chiefs of all the three Defence Forces will also be present. Prime Minister will then be conducted to stage by General Officer Commanding, Delhi Area, Lt. General Manoj Mukund Naravane where he will unfurl the tri-colour. A 21 Gun Salute will be fired by the gunners of the 2281 Field Regiment at the time of unfurling of the tri-colour. The ceremonial battery will be commanded by Lt. Col Aditya Kumar Devrani, Shaurya Chakra, Sena Medal and the Gun Position Officer will be Regimental Havildar Major Kolate Rajesh Shripati.
The Rashtriya Salute will be presented by the National Flag Guard at the same time. Lt Col Saket Bharadwaj from the Indian Army will be in command of this Inter-Services Guard and Police Guard. The Naval Contingent for the National Flag Guard will be commanded by Lt Cdr MYV Tejas, the Army contingent by Major Gerry Mathew, the Air Force contingent by Sqn Ldr Ravi Tomar and the Delhi Police contingent by Additional DCP Shri Rajiv Ranjan.
The National Anthem will be played by the Indian Army when the Rashtriya Salute is presented at the time of unfurling. The band will be commanded by Sub Maj Bhaskar Singh Rawat of the Military Band of the Garhwal Rifles Regimental Centre. All Service personnel in uniform will stand and salute.
Two Army Officers, Capt Md Hasseb Khan and Lt Vinay Budhwar will be positioned on either side of the saluting dais for the Prime Minister for ADC duties. Lt Col Kanchan Kulhari will assist the Prime Minister in unfurling the National Flag.
After the flag is unfurled, PM Modi will deliver his fourth address to the nation. He has also invited suggestions from public on topics that he should include in his speech. Education, cleanliness, environment, digitisation and girls’ literacy are the themes that topped the list.
After the address, school children and NCC Cadets will sing the National Anthem. A total of 3,500 girl students and 5,000 boy students from 37 schools and National Cadet Corps will come together to sing patriotic songs in different regional languages. The children will also display the formation of ‘Bharat’ during the celebrations.
(With inputs from PTI)
