“Hum tod rahe hain zanjeerein, (We are breaking the shackles)
Hum badal rahe hain tasveerein, (We are shaping the picture)”
These two sentences at the fag end of his speech summed up the essence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s near 80-minute fifth Independence Day address from the ramparts of Red Fort today.
In his characteristic style, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s last speech from Red Fort before seeking a fresh mandate in 2019 sought to project that he has provided an assured stewardship of the leap of faith taken by the electorate in him in 2014.
Modi used the trope of contrast to highlight the gains made during his last over four years vis-a-vis the previous achievements to suggest that he has lived up to the promise of hope he had offered to the electorate in 2014.
For this purpose, Modi repeatedly used the achievements in the areas like toilet coverage, LPG coverage, electrification, optical fibre networks till 2013 (during previous UPA regime) to suggest that he has marched with pace and purpose during last four years.
“Kade faisle lene ka samarthya rakhte hain (we have guts to take firm decisions),” Modi asserted referring to decision like ‘One Rank, One Pension’ for armed forces and providing one and half times the cost of input as the minimum support price for crops for farmers, GST, Insolvency and Banking reforms, Surgical Strikes among others. This was another attempt to suggest that his government was not suffering from paralysis, but it had a clear resolve and purpose towards issues that hanged fire previously.
Claiming that India has moved from “red-tape to red-carpet” and from “policy paralysis and delayed reforms to reform, perform and transform” approach that helped it escape from being among “fragile five economies to a multi-Trillion dollar investment destination” across the world, Prime Minister Modi sought to suggest that the country has made rapid positive amends from the situation it found itself in little over four years since 2014 when he took the stewardship of the country.
Prime Minister Modi used his pre-2019 Independence Day speech to announce sending an Indian into space on an Indian carrier by 2022 to signal his ambition of taking Indian electorate’s leap of faith in him into higher orbits.
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Given how the black money was a big electoral issue in 2014 elections, Modi, in particular, sought to suggest how he has cracked down against big as well as retail corruption. From claiming to have eliminated almost six crores of bogus beneficiaries of government doles as an example to tackle retail annual corruption worth Rs 90,000 crore, Modi asserted how there are “no power brokers in the corridors of power” in Delhi. Given, how, many of his anti-black money initiatives like demonetisation and GST have created heartburn among the middle-class tax-paying public, Prime Minister used his last Independence Day speech to assuage their feelings by praising them for their contribution in nation building ahead of 2019 elections.
As for social issues, Prime Minister sought to take credit for working towards social justice in reference to legislative initiatives towards protecting the interests of SC/STs and OBCs as well he sought to appeal to women for announcing the eligibility for permanent commission for women in officers rank. He also sought to stress his commitment towards “Muslim women” against the practice of Triple Talaq that has been rendered illegal by the Supreme Court.
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As for vexed issues of national importance, Prime Minister invoked his predecessor Atal Behari Vajpayee’s “Insaniyat, Jamhooriyat and Kashmiriyat” principle along with his dictum of embracing Kashmiris as well as reducing geographical spread of AFSPA in north-eastern India and shrinking influence of left-wing extremism to suggest he was alert to these issues.
The Prime Minister, however, did not dwell on international issues and refrained from even referring to India’s foreign policy landscape either in neighborhood or larger geopolitics. Though there has been a democratic transition of power in neighbouring Pakistan, the speech was conspicuous by its silence on this issue.
Conscious that it was his last Independence Day speech before he goes to the electorate for seeking a fresh mandate in 2019, Modi sought to suggest he still has the hunger for more work despite his claims of achievements during last over four years. “Yes, I am impatient to go ahead because I see how many countries have marched ahead (of us),” Modi declared suggesting how he still remains anxious against malnutrition, health coverage and many other issues for this country.
