NEW DELHI: President Pratibha Patil on Friday hosted her second home function at Rashtrapati Bhavan on the occasion of Independence Day.

On a humid afternoon, the sprawling Mughul Garden of the presidential palace was packed with politicians, police and army top brass, members of the diplomats and eminent persons from various walks of life.

Vice President Mohammed Hameed Ansari, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, and Vimla Sharma, the wife of late President S D Sharma sat within the VVIP enclosure.

The occasion was, however, marked by absence of some prominent personalities including Leader of the Opposition L K Advani and Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan. The spouse of the President Devisingh Shekhawat was also not present at the function.

Barring BJP spokesperson Ravi Shanker Prasad, no other leaders from the opposition could be sighted at the function which was marred by several dragonflies popularly known as helicopter frequenting in the Mughal Garden.

Absence of the leaders at the event also made seating arrangements at the presidential enclosure to further shrink.

All Union ministers, including External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Home Minister Shivraj Patil and Railway Minister Lalu Prasad, were in a separate enclosure at the function as required by the protocol.

Source : MMD English