Cong leader Ambika Soni unfurls national flag at party headquarters

Senior leader and Congress Working Committee member Ambika Soni on Monday unfurled the national flag at the AICC headquarters on the 76th Independence Day as party president Sonia Gandhi was down with Covid.

Later, the Congress leaders took out a march from the party headquarters to Gandhi Smriti on Tees January Road as part of its Azadi Gaurav Yatra. Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Ambika Soni, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, and K C Venugopal among others attended the march. The flag-hoisting ceremony was also attended by Rahul Gandhi. He was flanked by senior Congress leaders Azad and Sharma.

Other senior leaders present on the occasion included party general secretaries Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, K C Venugopal and Jairam Ramesh, treasurer Pawan Kumar Bansal and party veteran Mohsina Kidwai.

Sonia Gandhi was not present at the party headquarters as she is down with Covid.

Reacting to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech at the Red Fort, the Congress said that he ''disappointed'' the nation as he ''did not talk about promises''.

Senior Congress leader Pawan Khera claimed that Modi’s speech lacked energy and emotions.

''The country was expecting that the prime minister would present a report card of his eight years in power. It is sad that the prime minister disappointed the entire country today.

''In his speech, he did not talk about the hollow promises like doubling the income of farmers, providing employment etc,'' Khera told reporters.

On Modi's comment on 'Parivarvaad', Kehra said that the prime minister must have made the remark on the internal issues of BJP as there is 'Parivarwaad' in the saffron party.

Modi on Monday said the big challenges before the country are nepotism and dynasty, and corruption, asserting that ''we have to fight'' against these together.

Addressing the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the 76th Independence Day, Modi described nepotism as an ''evil'' and said the country needs to come together against it.

''We need to give opportunities to those who are talented and will work for the progress of the nation. Talent will be the basis of New India,'' he said.

''When I talk about nepotism and dynasty, people think I am talking about politics only. No, unfortunately, this evil of politics has nurtured nepotism in every institution,'' Modi said in his speech.