This is why Prime Minister Narendra Modi ditched his BMW for Range Rover

Prime Minister Narendra Modi chose a Range Rover instead of the usual BMW when he came to deliver his speech at Red Fort on the occasion of the 71st Independence Day.

The full armoured and customised BMW 7-series vehicle has been the Prime Minister’s official car since he took over in May 2014.

Reasons not known

While an official in the government confirmed that Mr Modi had used the luxury SUV for the first time, the reasons for it — security concerns or any other, were immediately not known.

Another source confirmed that during the full dress rehearsal on August 13, a BMW was deployed for the dummy run. During the Republic Day parade also, Mr Modi had come in a BMW car.

After delivering his speech, Mr Modi sat on the front seat of the Range Rover.

After moving for a few metres, he stopped to meet the school children who were present in the precincts and interacted with them briefly.

The children jostled for Mr Modi’s attention and he decided to get clicked with some children, who were dressed as Hindu god Krishna. Janmashtami, the birth of Krishna, was celebrated across the country on Monday. The Special Protection Group (SPG), which is entrusted with the PM’s security, decides the make of the vehicle to be used. There are multiple bulletproof vehicles, which form a part of the PM’s motorcade.

Besides Mr Modi, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her children Rahul and Priyanka, as well as former PM Manmohan Singh have SPG cover.