Children jostle to meet, greet PM Narendra Modi at Red Fort

After delivering a nearly hour-long speech from the ramparts of the iconic monument, he waved to the crowd and moved to his motorcade for departure.

But, on his way out, Modi halted it and broke from the security cover to enter an enclosure where children welcomed him with loud cheers.

While Modi had last year also moved out of his security cordon to greet children, the response from the students this year was far too overwhelming as they jostled to catch a glimpse of the prime minister or shake hands with him.

12-year-old Khushi Sharma, a class VII student was on cloud nine after shaking hands with him.

"He (PM) told us that we girls should focus on education and do well in life," an overjoyed Khushi told PTI.

Muskan, 12, also couldn't believe she had met the prime minister of the country.

"We were very tired as we had come to the Red Fort at 4 am to perform at the event, but after meeting him (Modi), the weariness all vanished. Everyone jostled towards the end to meet and greet him, but I felt I was lucky," said Muskan, with a smile.

Children from various schools in Delhi had formed a 'Bharat' formation in Hindi in front of the 17th century fort, for which they said, they had practiced quite a lot in the last two weeks.

A few children had also come to the venue dressed up as young Lord Krishna, as the day coincided with Janmashtami.

Modi greeted them too and interacted with other children, when more students started gathering around him. The crowd soon swelled to a huge mass of children, who hankered to shake hands with him, prompting Modi's special security team to step in.

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And, even, as Modi tried to walk back to his car, the overenthusiastic crowd continued to swamp the prime minister, even as he obliged the doting children with warm smile and gestures.

Eventually, the prime minister got some relief from the crowd, allowing him to move back to his car, after which the motorcade sped away.

But, the moment was tempered with sadness for some children, as they lost their belongings in the melee that ensued when children sought to get closer to the prime minister.

"I have lost a shoe and now I am scared to go back home as my father would scold me," said a tearful Himanshi, a class VI student.

Mahek met with a similar fate, saying she lost her cap and a shoe in the crowd.