NEW DELHI: With big-ticket electoral battles just months away, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday portrayed himself as one who is “restless, agitated and impatient” in the pursuit of a transformed India. Countering charges of unkept promises, he said, “hum makkhan par lakir nahi, patthar par lakeer kheenchne wale haen (we don’t promise things lightly, we mean to keep our words).”
In his final speech from the ramparts of Red Fort here in the NDA’s current term, Modi portrayed an India on the move, fuelling aspirations of the poor - from offering healthcare benefits to scores of other entitlements - and connecting with the middle class by lauding them for honesty in paying taxes. Modi, in his 82-minute speech, invoked 2013 to contrast the achievements of his government and burnish his credentials before the 2019 general elections. He, however, skipped contentious issues like demonetisation and lynching.
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) took special care to get the content right, with Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari vetting the speech, sources said, indicating the importance Modi attached to his message to the masses.“You may recall the comments made about India prior to 2014, by eminent international institutions, top economists of the world, and by those considered authorities on the subject. This was a time when the Indian economy was considered risky. But now the same experts and institutions say that our reform momentum has strengthened the economic fundamentals. They talk of our focus on reform, perform, and transform,” Modi underlined.
He then rolled out the NDA’s achievement canvas. Among the points he ticked were the 13 crore Mudra loans, including four crore first time youth who availed the benefits, three lakh villages where young men and women are providing digital services, Gram Swaraj Abhiyan reaching 65,000 aspirational villages, WHO’s statement that three lakh children were saved because of the cleanliness campaign, and five crore poor lifted above the poverty line in the last two years. He also announced a manned space mission plan by 2022.
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Apparently aware of the challenge to rediscover his 2014 appeal among the middle class, Modi talked at length about their service to society by honestly paying taxes, which went into feeding the poor
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