Sporting a saffron ‘safa’, Prime Minister Narendra Modi walked down the streets till India Gate and waved his hand to the crowd

Prime Minister Narendra Modi broke the general security protocol on Republic Day as he walked around, greeting the crowd gathered there to witness the 71st Republic Day celebrations at Rajpath on Sunday.

Soon after President Ram Nath Kovind and Brazilian President Jair Messias Bolsonaro, the chief guest, left the venue after the parade, Mr. Modi walked down the street till India Gate. Seeing the Prime Minister close to their enclosures, spectators resorted to frenzied sloganeering. They were seen clicking his pictures with their mobile phones while security personnel deployed there had a tough time containing the overwhelmed crowd.

Sporting a saffron ‘safa’, Mr. Modi waved at the crowd as he walked down the Rajpath while his security personnel tried to keep pace with him and his motorcade followed.

PM @narendramodi waves at a cheerful audience at Rajpath before his departure, as curtains come down on #RepublicDayParade2020 #RepublicDay #RepublicDayIndia pic.twitter.com/2twIYRFSVV — PIB India (@PIB_India) January 26, 2020

Security arrangements

Amid ongoing anti-CAA protests and terror alert by intelligence agencies, the entire Lutyens Delhi was turned into a fortress. There was multi-layer security in and around the Rajpath and all the roads leading to Rajpath remained blocked till noon.

“Over 10,000 security personnel were deployed to keep vigil over the Republic Day celebrations. Facial recognition devices were also installed at all entry gates of the R-Day parade venue,” said a police officer.

Around 2,500 traffic police personnel were deployed from 5 a.m. to noon in Lutyens Delhi to channelise traffic flow.

“We continued patrolling in public places till late evening. Group patrolling and vehicle checking were also being carried out with the help of Central Armed Police Forces. Ground staff were instructed to focus on crowd management,” said the officer.