The US President Barack Obama watched on as India celebrated her 66th Republic Day, showcasing before the Chief guest the best of her talents by displaying magnanimity of cultural diversity and military strength.
The theme of this year’s Republic Day was women empowerment with the women leaving no stone unturned to showcase their potential.
The wee hours saw the women officers of all the three contingents- the Army, Air Force and the Navy marching on as the President of India Pranab Mukherjee unfurled the flag followed by a 21-gun grand salute. The Republic Day saw international recognition too as the Google updated its doodle in the honour of the 66th anniversary. One of the major attractions that seemed to fascinate the spectators was the ingeniously built Aakash missile. Shortly later, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in due style and greeted to the all-enthusiastic crowd.
25 tableaux were selected to perform at the parade. Around nine am, the Chinese president Xi Jinping, who had been the guest of honour last year, congratulated India on her success and stated his delight over her achievements.
This was followed by the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav greeting the masses and the Governor of Tamil Nadu K. Rosaiah hoisting the flag at Marina Beach in the respective states.
Simultaneously, the tricolor was unfurled by Amit Shah at the BJP head-quarters in New Delhi. Prime Minister Modi then paid homeage to the martyrs at the India Gate before leaving for the Republic Day parade with the American president. Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chauhan used the social media to tweet his wishes as the First couple shortly arrive at the Rajpath. They were gifted a memorabilia of the First Republic Day stamp issued on the 26 January 1950 that adorned the back cover of the US telegram by Modi, as a mark of bonding and fraternity.
President Mukherjee arrived at around ten followed by which the honour of Ashoka Chakra were bestowed on two heroes, Major Mukund Varadranjan and Naik Neeraj Kumar Singh to honour their exemplary bravery, posthumously. The parade began with the Lt. Gen. Subroto Mitra leading the first formation of the Defence forces. The parade witnessed scores of common public, despite the strict security, and dignitaries alike, like the Congress President Sonia Gandhi, the former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and his wife, Delhi Chief Minister candidate Kiran Bedi along with several others.
The honour of Param Vir Chakra was also awraded. Keeping in with the theme, Lt. Com. Sandhya Chauhan(Navy) and Capt. Urvashi of the 114 Armoured regiment commanded a tank followed by the displays of the Sikh-Gorkha regiment, Battle tank T-90s, the Kumaon regiment and the combined band of 13 grenadiers led by Master Naib Gurung, consisting of 3 JCOs and 48 musicians. The BSF marched in pride as they marked their Golden Jubilee along with the Indian Air Force, marking the same of the 1965 war.
The first tableaux to perform was from the state of Karnataka followed by Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Assam, Jharkhand, Sikkim, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, the valley state of Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Chattisgarh, Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat along with other organizations like AYUSH, Atomic energy, Law-justice, women and child welfare and the Indian railways. The RPF dog squad personnel performed in Securendabad, managing to woo the audience there equally. School children and daredevil motorists assembling in various formations left everybody, right from the Guest of Honour, in awe to marvel at their brilliant performances despite of the drizzly weather.
In all, the event concluded with the National Anthem on a good note.
Tags: 66th Republic Day Barack Obama india Narendra Modi R-Day Parade Republic Day
