In radio broadcast on Aug 15, 1947, Nehru described himself as Pradhan Sewak of people, says Jairam Ramesh

On the 79th Independence Day, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh recalled how India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, made a broadcast over All India Radio, which he began by describing himself as the “Pradhan Sewak of the Indian people”.He recalled that Nehru actually spoke from the Red Fort for the first time on August 16, 1947, as August 15 was packed with various programmes.

“At the midnight hour of August 14, 1947, the Constituent Assembly met and soon thereafter Jawaharlal Nehru delivered his iconic and immortal Tryst with Destiny Speech. All newspapers on the morning of August 15, 1947, carried a message to the people of India as well as to overseas Indians,” Ramesh said on X on Friday.

Later in the day, Nehru made a broadcast over All India Radio, which he began by describing himself as the “Pradhan Sewak” of the Indian people, the Congress leader said.

“August 15, 1947, was a packed programme. Hence, it was on August 16, 1947, that Nehru actually spoke from the Red Fort for the first time, where he famously invoked not only Mahatma Gandhi but Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose as well,” he said.

In subsequent years, the Red Fort address to the nation by the prime ministers was to be on August 15, Ramesh added.The Congress general secretary also shared a screenshot of Nehru’s message carried in newspapers at that time, his broadcast on All India Radio, and the speech on the Red Fort.