PM Modi Hoists National Flag At Red Fort On 78th Independence Day | Watch

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday hoisted the national flag for the 11th time in a row from the ramparts of Delhi’s Red Fort on the occasion of India’s 78th Independence Day.

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Indian Air Force’s Advanced Light Helicopters showered flower petals while the flag hoisting ceremony at the historic monument.

PM Modi sported a multicoloured Rajasthani leheriya print turban with white kurta and churidar along with a light blue bandhgala jacket for this year’s Independence Day celebration. In keeping with the tradition of wearing colourful turbans on every Independence Day since 2014, Modi’s headgear this time was a mix of orange, yellow and green colour with a long tail.

Following the flag hoisting, PM Modi began his address, which is a part of the centrepiece annual Independence Day celebrations where the prime minister lays out the government’s agenda, presents its report card, makes important policy and programme announcements and speaks about burning issues.

Modi became the third prime minister after Jawaharlal Nehri and Indira Gandhi, to address the nation on 11 consecutive Independence Day events. While Nehru had delivered 17 straight speeches, Indira Gandhi — who was the prime minister from January 1966 to March 1977, and then from January 1980 to October 1984 — gave the I-Day address 16 times of which 11 were consecutive speeches.

It was in 2014 that PM Modi gave his first Independence Day speech during which he announced a slew of new programmes such as Swachh Bharat and Jan Dhan accounts.

Security tightened across Delhi:

Delhi Police has heightened security measures for Independence Day celebrations, deploying over 10,000 personnel across the city. Additionally, 700 AI-based facial recognition CCTV cameras have been installed in central and New Delhi. These cameras have high-resolution pan-tilt-zoom features, allowing identification of a person from a distance, officials said as reported by news agency PTI.

The police also issued a traffic advisory informing the public about route closures and diversions around the Red Fort. Traffic movement will be restricted around the Red Fort area for the security and convenience of attendees, they said.