Indian Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday flagged off a massive 'Tiranga' (tricolor) motorbike rally from Delhi's iconic Red Fort, just days ahead of the country's 76th independence day on August 15.
Organized by the Federal Ministry of Culture, the rally saw the participation of several federal ministers, hundreds of parliamentarians, and scores of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) functionaries.
Addressing the ministers, parliamentarians and other participants, Vice-President Naidu said that this precious moment must remind everyone of "the countless sacrifices made by our great freedom fighters for the unity and independence of the country."
While speaking about the purpose of the Tricolor march, Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture Meenakshi Lekhi told Sputnik that the march has been organized to inspire citizens. "We wanted that people should get to know about those who laid their lives for the freedom of the country and get inspired by them,” she stated.
On the occasion, Federal Minister for Sports, Youth Affairs, and Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur said: “The rally will spread a message among the youth of the country and others that we will uphold the dignity of our national flag and maintain the unity and integrity of India and enhance its glory.”
Federal Ministers Anurag Thakur and G. Kishan Reddy Interacting with Media During Tricolor March
© Sputnik / Rahul Trivedi
Meanwhile, the opposition slammed the rally. Congress Parliamentarian Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury accused the BJP of ”promoting its own political agenda in the name of patriotism.” Chowdhury, who is also the Leader of Congress in the upper house of the Parliament, said that ”we can’t be a part of it" and that ”Congress party will be organizing its own program.”
Commenting on opposition parties boycotting the Tricolor march, Minister Lekhi said that the government wanted all the parliamentarians across the political parties to participate in the march "since the national flag belongs to everyone and not one party."
BJP parliamentarian Manoj Tiwari said that by skipping the march the Opposition parties have shown that "they don’t have respect for the national flag."
Meanwhile, several Congress politicians including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra have changed their social media profile photos, replacing it with a picture of India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru holding the national flag.
Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday had urged the people of the country to replace their social media profile photos with the nation's tricolor as part of the ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign.