Bangalore :  Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar unfurled the tricolour and received the guard of honour amid cheers by the public, freedom fighters and the youth sporting colourful dresses, waving the national flag and singing patriotic songs in unison.

Mr. Shettar went around the parade ground in an open jeep greeting the people with folded hands and saluting the men and women in uniform. After the flag-hoisting by the Chief Minister, Indian Air Force helicopters showered flower petals onto the flag from a low altitude. Commandant Armed Reserve (North), DCP, A.G. Eshwarappa led the parade.

Mr. Shettar also witnessed an impressive march past by contingents of the Karnataka State Reserve Police, Home Guards, Karnataka Fire and Emergency Services, National Cadet Corps, Traffic Wardens, Bharat Scouts and Guides, Seva Dal, Excise, and volunteers and boys and girls from schools across the city.

School students, as usual, stole the show with 2,300 of them dressed in a riot of colours, dancing to the melodies of patriotic songs.

As many as 650 students of BBMP Boys and Girls High School, Austin Town, walked away with the first prize in the cultural programme category for their ‘Rani Abbakkadevi’ dance which depicted the heroics of the queen against the Portuguese in 1567.

A total of 500 students of the Jawahar Novodaya Vidyalaya, Bagalur, Bangalore Urban district, presented a dance on a theme ‘Heroic sacrifices’ for the second prize. Students of the Government High School, Uttarahalli, Bangalore South, presented a folk dance for the third prize. St Lourde’s High School, Mathikere, bagged a consolation prize.

Besides the contingents of the various armed forces, students of Gulabi High School, Bangalore International Public School, and Ashwini Primary and High School, Cauvery High School, SARS Little Flower Public School, Delhi Public School, Police Public School, and the Indian Red Cross bagged prizes in various categories for participating in the march past.

Ramana Maharshi School for the Blind, Samarthanam Trust, and Hamsadwani for Deaf and Dumb also bagged prizes.

Pioneer Corps Training Centre, Agaram, Bangalore, presented a Judo show and enthralled the audience. The Hindu