Two lengthy speeches - two hour long in Lok Sabha and one-and-half hour long from the ramparts of red sandstone historic Red Fort, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set the stage for 2024 battle.
He has aptly dealt with his issues highlighting 'achievements' of his government and smartly skirted direct references to controversies and the shortcomings.
The world too will be more than keen about Indian elections. Modi also understands the 'importance' India has attained some of it during the last seven decades and half and some under him during the last nine years. Hence, "My dear family members (parivar jan), you will take pride that the world is seeing the capabilities of my 140 crore fellow citizens in shaping the changing world. You are standing at a turning point" -- was his important message on August 15.
This aspect ought to be studied effectively. On August 10 during his marathon response to the three-day debate on the No Trust motion, the Prime Minister also took a dig at opposition parties. This aspect got ignored by the media and his political detractors.
"Samajhne nahi saktey toh chuup raho", he told the Opposition members in Lok Sabha.
He said, "Today, since the world has trust in India, one of the reasons is that the people of India have increased their self-confidence. This is the power, please don't try to break this belief. This is the opportunity to take the country forward."
"If you can't understand this, then please keep quiet. Wait for a while but don't try to break the country's trust by betraying it."
I don't think there can be a more stronger reprimand to the Opposition members than this.
Vrtually endorsing what Modi claims about India's newly attained position, on the occasion of Independence Day, global leaders sent messages hailing India's new standing at the global stage.
Congratulating the people of India on their Independence Day, French President Emmanuel Macron in a post on X, wrote in Hindi 'badhai' and addressed PM Modi as 'mere mitra'.
He said a month ago in Paris, "my friend @narendramodi and I set new Indo-French ambitions all the way to 2047, the centenary year of India’s Independence". Russian President Vladimir Putin said, "India enjoys well-deserved authority on the international stage, playing an important and constructive role in international affairs”.
Extending “best wishes” to the people of India on behalf of the American people, US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, said as the world’s oldest and largest democracies, America and India have created a strong bond that grows ever closer as the two countries work together for a world that is open, prosperous, secure, stable and resilient. These are some of the realities which ought to be grasped in their totality and debated. This is 'New India' !
On the Independence Day speech, Modi said, “After Covid, when we help the world, we are seen as Vishwa Mitra — friend of the world,” Modi referred to various ways in which India had shaped the global narrative and institutional landscape, with its emphasis on themes such as “one sun, one earth, one grid”, or “One earth, one health” or “One earth, one family, one future”, or embracing LIFE (Lifestyle for Environment) to battle climate crisis or its leadership of the International Solar Alliance and the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure.
But, Modi said, in order to achieve this, “We will have to accept some truths and I need your help to resolve it. I seek your blessings. And I say this on the basis of my experience. We need probity, transparency and objectivity. As institutions, as citizens, this is our collective duty."
Then he referred to the target, India will be developed by 2047. "But this is not the time to turn a blind eye to obstacles", he sounded emphatic.
Yes, you have guessed it right - these obstacles, were corruption, nepotism and appeasement, acsording to the Prime Minister. It also ought to be understood that in all three parameters the Opposition will be either found fumbling or at best on the defensive.
“We must create hatred towards corruption," he asserted.
There is no greater evil in public life than corruption. The Swachhta Abhiyan (the cleanliness drive) needs this dimension too,” Modi said.
"He offered an example from his years in office, saying that technology had helped identify 100 million fake beneficiaries of government schemes using names of those who were not even born. Modi’s critique of corruption comes at a time when the opposition has accused the government of misusing state agencies to selectively go after its adversaries under trumped-up charges of corruption, while the members of the ruling party have claimed that their rivals, during their term in office, had accumulated wealth for which they now seek to evade accountability," reports 'The Hindustan Times'
Nepotism, Modi said, was an ill afflicting political parties and contributing to the degeneration of democracy. “Family based parties have one life mantra — of the family, by the family and for the family. They are enemies of talent. They don’t accept capability.” The reference to nepotism comes in the backdrop of a sustained attack by the BJP on the Congress as well as regional parties which have been dominated by one family.
Appeasement, Modi said, had “hurt social justice” like nothing else. And this expanded to appeasement in terms of mindset and government schemes. The PM’s comment comes in the context of the BJP consistently accusing parties of using “secularism” as a garb to woo minority votes by catering to their interests and political needs at the cost of the majority. This is what we feel angrily about 'Sickularism'.
Of course ; the opposition believes that the 'accusation' of appeasement is a cover to justify BJP’s majoritarian politics. But the voters especially the Hindu voters -- an overwhelming of them - will believe Modi more than these 'sickular' artists -- for a large number of whom 'insulting Hindus and Hind culture' was so easy even a few years back.
Lalu Prasad had questioned Hindu faith and said, "Ram did not have Land patta". The Congress regime did not miss chance to arrest Hindu leaders and the Manmohan Singh regime thought their route to salvation was creation of a fiction around 'saffron terrorism'.
Now take a closer look at certain things changed in last nine years.
“Ten years ago, the Centre used to release ₹30 lakh crore to states. Now it gives ₹100 lakh crore. Ten years ago, it gave ₹70,000 crore for local development. Now it gives ₹3 lakh crore. For homes of the poor, it spent ₹90,000 crore; now, we have spent ₹4 lakh crore. ₹10 lakh crore is given for urea subsidy. We gave ₹3.5 lakh crore to MSMEs (micro, small and medium sector enterprises) during the pandemic and didn’t let them die,” Modi said.
The PM also said, “In five years, 13.5 crore (135 million) people have risen above poverty line to neo-middle class. There is no greater satisfaction in life than this. When poverty reduces, the strength of the middle class increases.” Promising that he would elevate India to the world’s three largest economies in his next term, Modi pointed to the interconnected nature of the economy and said, “When the purchasing power of poor increases, the commercial power of middle class increases. When purchasing power of rural areas increase, so do that of towns and cities.”
ends
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