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Since he took oath in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speeches on Independence Day have been as much about policy and programmes as ideology.
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This year, he emphasised on illegal migration, calling it a “well-thought-out conspiracy”, at a time when the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls – driven largely with this agenda – has seen Opposition protests from the streets to courts and Parliament. He went on to announce a “Mission” to check “demographic change”.
As importantly, Modi’s speech included fulsome praise for the RSS – the first time he has arguably done so from the ramparts of the Red Fort, in his 12 Independence Day speeches. With the Sangh set to celebrate its 100 years, the PM lauded its journey.
2014: ‘Outsider’ Modi praises ‘all PMs’
Describing himself as an “outsider for Delhi” who had been “isolated from the elite class” of the national capital till then, PM Modi described himself the country’s “Pradhan Sewak (Prime Servant)” in his maiden speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort.
In the flush of his decimation of the Congress in the 2014 elections, Modi was generous in acknowledging the contribution of his political opponents. “Today if we have reached here after Independence, it is because of the contribution of all the Prime Ministers, all the governments and even the governments of all the states.”
The PM added: “We are not for moving forward on the basis of majority, we are not interested in moving forward by virtue of majority. We want to move ahead on the basis of strong consensus.”
Modi also used his maiden speech to highlight his government’s initiatives, as compared to his predecessors’. “It seemed as if dozens of separate governments were running at the same time in one main government. It appeared that everyone had its own fiefdom,” Modi said, referring to the previous UPA regime.
2015: ‘Not a single taint of corruption’
In his second speech, he announced schemes such as Start-Up India, Stand-Up India, electrification of 18,000 villages within the next 1,000 days, and abolition of interviews for job-seekers in groups C & D, but measured his government’s success in resolving the legacy issues carried over from the UPA government. In particular, he announced the acceptance of One Rank, One Pension for the armed forces and dwelt at length on how he had managed to clear the “mess” in allocation of natural resources — coal, minerals and spectrum — by instituting an auction mechanism.
“It has been 15 months, there is not a single taint of corruption against your government,” Modi said, as he referred to ‘Team India’ repeatedly. “Sometimes people are fond of sinking into despair,” he said.
2016: ‘Innumerable initiatives, multiple tasks done’
In his third speech, Modi refrained from new announcements and instead projected his government’s record in delivery of his promises. “I can present before you a very detailed account of work done and also multiple issues regarding the performance of the government. During its tenure of two years, the government has taken innumerable initiatives and done multiple tasks. If I start giving details about them, I am afraid I will end up talking for about a week.”
2017: ‘Majestic India by 2022’
His fourth speech from the Red Fort had only one announcement, the launch of a website to provide an account of the valour of the Gallantry Award winners in 2017. Modi chose to set out goals for a ‘Majestic India’ by 2022. These included pucca houses for the poor, doubling of farmers’ earnings by 2022, enough opportunities for the youth and women, and an India which would be uncompromising with corruption and nepotism and be free from terrorism, communalism and casteism.
2018: ‘We are breaking free’
In his last Independence Day speech before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Modi dwelt on his “assured stewardship” of the leap of faith taken by the electorate in 2014 in voting for him.
Modi highlighted the “gains” of the previous four years in areas such as toilet coverage, LPG coverage, electrification, optical fibre networks.
He ended the speech with: “Hum tod rahe hain zanjeerein… Hum badal rahe hain tasveerein (We are breaking the shackles… We are reshaping the picture).”
2019: ‘Art 370, triple talaq moves our hallmark’
After returning to power with a thumping majority, Modi used his 2019 Independence Day speech to articulate the decisions taken by his government in line with its ideological agenda — the abrogation of Article 370 (August 5, 2019) and a law banning instant triple talaq (August 1, 2019).
“What was the reason behind revocation of Article 370 and 35A? This is the hallmark of this government. We do not avoid problems, nor do we let them fester… The work that was not done in the last 70 years has been accomplished within 70 days of this new government coming to power,” the PM said.
2020: ‘In Covid, need to become self-reliant’
“It is necessary for us to make India self-reliant. In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, Indians must resolve to become ‘self-reliant’. This is not just a word, but a mantra for the people,” PM Modi said in his I-Day speech at the height of the first wave of the pandemic.
He said self-sufficiency meant not only reducing imports, but also increasing the levels of skills and creativity in the country. He expressed confidence that measures taken by his government, like opening up the space sector, would generate employment opportunities for the youth.
He also announced the launch of the National Digital Health Mission under which every Indian would get a unique health ID.
2021: ‘Amrit Kaal’
The PM declared that the next 26 years, till 2047, the centenary year of Independence, would be India’s ‘Amrit Kaal’, in which it will reach newer heights.
“25 years of Amrit Kaal. We should not wait for that long to meet our goals. We must set out for this immediately. Yehi samay hai, sahi samay hai… (This is the time, the right time) We should change ourselves according to the changing world. We will work with the motto of Sabka saath, sabka vikaas, sabka vishwas aur sabka prayaas.”
He also said that his government is working to free the people and the system of archaic laws. “Earlier, the government was sitting in the driver’s seat. Maybe it was needed at that time. But the time has changed now. Efforts have increased in the last seven years to free the people from the web of unnecessary laws and procedures.”
2022: ‘Paanch pran’, ‘shed colonialism, nepotism’
Modi framed his political argument on two pillars, spelling out a five-point “pran (commitment/ resolve)” for ‘Amrit Kaal’, and to fight the twin challenges of “corruption” and “dynasty politics and nepotism”.
Avoiding announcements on any social sector schemes, Modi focused on the big picture, ideas for the future, and urged people to embrace self-reliance in spirit and action.
Elaborating on the ‘paanch pran’, the PM said the first was reaching the goal of a developed India by 2047, and second was “removing any trace of a colonial mindset”.
2023: ‘I will be back’
Declaring that “this India is unstoppable… tireless” and “does not give up”, Modi turned to the past and present with the promise to “take decisions one after the other” for “sarvajan hitay, sarvajan sukhay (welfare of all, happiness of all)”, underlining that the “Triveni” of “demography, democracy, diversity” had the potential to build the country for “the next 1,000 years”.
In the last Independence Day speech before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Modi went on to call people his “parivarjan” (family members) and flagged the “parivarvaad” (dynastic rule) of the Opposition. He also said he would be back at the Red Fort the coming year to list the achievements of the country.
He framed the 2024 Lok Sabha elections as a battle against “evils” plaguing the country, saying “now is not the time to shut your eyes” towards “corruption, dynastic rule and appeasement”.
2024: ‘Secular civil code, simultaneous polls needed’
Last year, in the first Independence Day speech of his third term, PM Modi raised other core ideological issues of the BJP and Sangh, speaking of a “secular civil code” instead of the existent “communal civil code”. Despite the BJP being 32 short of a majority in the Lok Sabha and depending on allies to reach the halfway mark, Modi also made a fresh call for simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies.
While Modi spent most of his speech reeling out statistics about the work done by his government in multiple sectors over the last decade, calling for faster reforms and promising to work harder in his third term, the few ideological and political points he made stood out.
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