india

Updated: Aug 15, 2019 20:39 IST

Soon after he finished his Independence Day address from the ramparts of the Red Fort, Prime Minister Narendra Modi sidestepped his security cordon to interact with enthusiastic schoolchildren on Thursday.

The prime minister dressed in a white kurta-pyjama and a colourful turban, arrived at the Red Fort to thunderous applause from the crowd. His speech went on for over 90 minutes from the iconic Mughal fort and touched upon issues like triple talaq, sanitation, importance of water and population control.

On his way out after his speech, PM Modi waved at the crowd and breached his security cordon to enter an enclosure where a motley group of school children, mostly girls greeted him with loud cheers.

The children, most of whom were dressed in the colours of the tricolour, jostled for space in an attempt to get a glimpse of the prime minister. The students sitting in the front rows, however, got an opportunity to shake hands with the PM.

“I cannot believe I got so close to the country’s PM,” an ecstatic Mehvish Parveen (13), a Class 6 student of a government school in Daryaganj said.

“The moment I saw him approaching us, I dashed towards him. I was only able to touch his hand as so many girls were jostling to shake hands with him. I feel very lucky,” she told news agency PTI.

Al Madiha, a Class VII student of another government school, was excited at getting a chance to shake hands with the prime minister.

Another student, Afreen Sharif (14) was disappointed as she could not make it to where the prime minister was standing despite being in the vicinity.

“People pushed to get close to the PM, but our teacher had told us to maintain discipline and not run when he comes near us. I am sad that I could not shake hands with Modiji,” she rued.

Last year too, PM Modi had moved out of his security cordon to greet children on Independence Day.