New Delhi, Jan 28: President Droupadi Murmu was accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Parliament House on Wednesday ahead of her address to the joint sitting of both Houses, marking the commencement of the Budget Session.
The President was received at the Parliament premises by Vice President C P Radhakrishnan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. She arrived in a six-horse-driven ceremonial buggy, escorted by the horse-mounted Presidential Bodyguard, on a misty morning in the national capital.
President Murmu was given a guard of honour on the lawns of the Parliament building and was later escorted to the Lok Sabha chamber by Radhakrishnan, Prime Minister Modi, Speaker Birla and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju.
Ahead of her arrival, a senior Marshal of the Lok Sabha, dressed in traditional attire, carried the ‘Sengol’—adopted by the government as a cultural symbol—in a ceremonial procession amid drum rolls.
The Vice President, Prime Minister and Lok Sabha Speaker welcomed the President at the Gaja Dwar of the Parliament building before proceeding to the Lok Sabha chamber in a procession led by the official reverentially carrying the Sengol.
President Murmu later addressed the joint sitting of Parliament, formally signalling the beginning of the Budget Session.
