President Pranab Mukherjee, Vice President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande at 'At Home' reception at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
President Pranab Mukherjee today hosted an 'At Home' at Rashtrapati Bhavan on 67th Republic Day where French President Francois Hollande was the chief guest.
After the rendition of national anthem and customary exchange of greetings with VVIPs, including the French President, President Mukherjee walked a designated pathway and exchanged pleasantries with other invitees on the sprawling Mughal Gardens.
Keeping in mind the security threat, designated pathways were created to allow the President and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to meet the public. On earlier occasions, the President used to keep his security at arm's length and freely mingled with the people.
With security restrictions in place, the French President was seated in the VVIP enclosure, which was expanded this time to include Cabinet ministers and senior BJP leaders including its president Amit Shah and party veteran L K Advani.
Prime Minister Modi also walked along the demarcated cordon and exchanged greetings with people who had lined up on both sides. He briefly stopped to interact with children.
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, his wife Gursharan Kaur, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and several Cabinet ministers were among those present in the VVIP enclosure. Mr Jaitley was seen talking with the Congress President Sonia Gandhi during the tea session in the VVIP enclosure. This time a seat was especially marked for 96-year-old Marshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh in the enclosure.