Republic Day Parade: Ministers, politicians cheer along with spectators at Rajpath

NEW DELHI: Union ministers and political leaders were among thousand of spectators who cheered at the military contingents, dance troupes performances and tableaux from various states during the Republic Day parade today at Rajpath.

Union Ministers Suresh Prabhu and Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore took the lead in cheering the marching contingents of the Parachute Regiment and NCC girls.

Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad cheered the tableau from his state of Jammu and Kashmir, while Union ministers D V Sadananda Gowda and Ananth Kumar along with their family members clapped when the Karnataka tableau drove past Rajpath.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi was seen cheering young artists from Odisha who performed the state's Sambalpuri folk dance.

TV cameras focused on Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar -- who was sitting in the VIP enclosure along with President Pranab Mukherjee, Vice President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande -- when the Goa tableau crossed the enclosure.

Parrikar was the former Goa Chief Minister.