By G Krishna Mohan Rao*
New Delhi: With the general elections just eight months away, Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered a heavily political speech from the ramparts of Red Fort while addressing the nation on the occasion of 77th Independence Day today.
Declaring a fight against corruption, nepotism, appeasement and parivarvad— Prime Minister emphasised the need to strengthen transparency, probity and impartiality in public life.
Addressing his 10th consecutive Independence Day address from the historic Red Fort, Narendra Modi guaranteed that India will become the 3rd largest economy in the next five years while backing it with the country’s three key constituents— demography, diversity and democracy. He said that decisions and actions taken during the “Amrit Kaal” — the period until 2047, the centenary of India’s independence, will make India a fully developed nation. Modi recalled that in 2014, India was the 10th largest economy. “Today, with the efforts of 140 crore citizens we have become the 5th largest economy in the world,” he pointed out.
During his 90-minute speech from the Red Fort, Modi exuded confidence that he would come back to power again in 2024 and address the nation at the next year’s Independence Day celebrations. Stating that India was free from the era of instability, the Prime Minister pointed out that India’s rise and development resulted in renewed global confidence in the country. The world is technology-driven, and with its talent in technology, India will have a new role and impact on the global stage.
Obviously being his last speech before the 2024 parliamentary elections from the Red Fort, the Prime Minister made a veiled attack on the Opposition particularly on “ corruption “ and “parivarvad”. Modi said corruption is the root cause of all the problems here. It is deeply rooted in all the systems of the country. Fight against corruption in every unit, in every sector is his commitment in this life, the Prime Minister said. He also said that the politics of appeasement inflicted the most harm on social justice. Nepotism too has adverse effects on the country, he said.
The Prime Minister said that India has the highest population of people under 30 years and through the power of youth, the country can achieve all its goals. ‘‘While in many countries the population is ageing, in India, we are moving forward with youthful energy. With young minds below the age of 30 years and by possessing countless arms to work, boundless intellectuals to innovate, and innumerable dreams and aspirations, we can achieve all our goals,” he said.
Modi announced that the government would soon launch a scheme to provide relief in bank loans to those dreaming of their own houses in cities. This will be aimed at middle-class families living in cities who do not own a house. He also focused on how India has shown the way to the world to fight climate change. India has launched a “life mission “ which aims to stop the mindless consumption of resources and formed important international coalitions such as the International Solar Alliance and Coalition for disaster resilient infrastructure and the International Big Cat Alliance.
The Prime Minister announced that the country is preparing to enter the 6G era soon. He further highlighted that India, besides becoming the world’s 3rd largest economy, provides some of the most affordable mobile data plans and internet services globally. 6G is expected to be 100 times faster than 5G, with the ability to download a large amount of data in just a minute, and will blur the lines between physical reality and the digital realm.
Referring to Manipur, the Prime Minister said that the situation is improving and added that “India stands with the people of Manipur”. He also said that the era of serial blasts is over and the country is seeing a drop in terror attacks.
Keeping with tradition since 2014, Prime Minister was seen sporting a multicoloured Rajasthani bandhani print turban with an off-white kurta and churidar….he had chosen a V-neck jacket to go with it. The turban was a mix of yellow, green and red with a long tail, following his hip.
Earlier, before he addressed the nation from the ramparts, the Prime Minister inspected the guard of honour and later he unfurled the national flag. He accepted the Guard of Honour from Tri–services and the Delhi police. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Minister of State for Defence, Ajay Bhatt, and Defence Secretary Giridhar, along with chiefs of Tri-services received the PM at Red Fort. Around 1,800 special guests were invited from various sections of society to witness the Red Fort ceremony. The entire union cabinet and other VIPs were present. A notable absentee was the Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge.
*Senior journalist
