Modi first PM who urged people to hoist Tricolour atop homes: Irani

Union minister Smriti Irani on Saturday here claimed that it is for the first time in the country's history that a prime minister has appealed to people to hoist the Tricolour atop their homes.

Speaking at a programme held to honour family members of freedom fighters, Irani said, ''To hoist the Tricolour, a number of people sacrificed their lives.'' Referring to PM Narendra Modi, she said it is for the ''first time in India's history'' that a prime minister has urged people to hoist the Tricolour atop their houses.

She said hoisting the national flag from the ramparts of the Red Fort is not the right of a few, a possible reference to the Congress party, which ruled the country for the most part of the period after the Independence. Referring to the coronavirus pandemic, she said when the country got Independence, nobody would have imagined that one day the entire world will be under a lockdown and sons of India will manufacture vaccines.

Irani also garlanded the statue of freedom fighter Chandrashekhar Azad on this occasion.