Gujarat Governor O.P. Kohli unfurled the national flag on the 70th Republic Day to the tune of national anthem played by police band at the state-level function held at the Police Parade Ground at Palanpur in Banaskantha district today.
The Governor and Chief Minister Vijay Rupani saluted the Tricolour as Indian Air Force helicopter showered flowers from the sky. They later inspected the Republic Day’s ceremonial parade in an open jeep, waving to a large number of people who had started assembling from nearby places at the venue since early morning.
It may be mentioned here that it was the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s innovative idea when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat to hold state-level Independence Day and Republic Day functions in different district places, by rotation, to involve people’s participation in national and state festivals.
The other highlights of the Republic Day function were 901-strong uniformed men presenting march past to the tunes of patriotic songs, led by Commandment Amit Vasava and Second Commandment Milap Patel, police troupes presenting rifle drill, motorcycle stunts, judo, karate, gymnastics, dog show and equestrian adventures.
There were also 842 local school children presenting India’s unique yoga asana, Sankar Dham and Al Jamia Surat college students performing pipe bands, and 2,452 students of Palanpur schools performing variety entertainment programmes.
Prominent among those present at the included MLA Maheshbhai Patel, Chief Minister’s wife Anjaliben Rupani, Chief Secretary J.N. Singh, Director-General of Police Shivannad Jha, Principal Secretary GAD Sangita Singh, Chief Minister’s Secretary Ashwini Kumar, District In-charge Secretary Arunkumar Solanki, District Collector Sandeep Sagle and DDO B. Shah, among others.
Source: Information Department, Gujarat