Who are the 'Special Guests' of Republic Day 2026? How are they different from Chief Guests?
India is celebrating its 77th Republic Day at Kartavya Path under the theme ‘150 Years of Vande Mataram’. President Droupadi Murmu will preside over the event, with EU leaders Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa as Chief Guests, and around 10,000 Special Guests
India is celebrating the 77th Republic Day today
India is celebrating the 77th Republic Day today under the theme of ‘150 years of Vande Mataram’. President Droupadi Murmu will preside over the celebrations at Kartavya Path, New Delhi.
Who are the Chief Guests?
The President of the European Council, Antonio Costa, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, are the Chief Guests on this momentous occasion.
Who are the Special Guests?
The Defence Ministry has said that around 10,000 special guests have been invited. The guests include those who have carried out exemplary work in income and employment generation, the best innovators, start-ups, self-help groups and best performers under various government initiatives.
Why are Special Guests invited?
The Special Guests are invited with the objective of honouring their contributions to nation-building and increasing Jan Bhagidari in events of national importance.
How did this start?
While the tradition of a foreign Chief Guest dates back to 1950s, the concept of ‘Special Guest’ was started under the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with the goal of promoting Jan Bhagidari and for the first time in 2023, the Ministry of Defence invited approximately 1,800 Special Guests to witness the Independence Day ceremony.
Different categories of 10,000 guests invited this year
This year, 53 diverse categories of individuals will be present. The most prominent ones are Lakhpati Didis, Panchayat Leaders, Artisans, Scientists and researchers from ISRO, Founders of successful startups and researchers in emerging fields like Semicon India and Bio-E3, Leaders of companies supported under the National Green Hydrogen Mission (SIGHT Program), Top-performing farmers under the Pulses Self-Reliance Mission, Top 100 students from the Veer Gatha 5.0 project who created tributes to gallantry award winners, Leaders and beneficiaries from the Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan, Anganwadi workers, ASHA workers, and ASHA and MyBharat volunteers.
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