Modi at his best

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi brought his campaign style oratory to the historic Red Fort as he delivered his first I-Day speech. He was sure to make a departure from the past practices, and he began with jettisoning the long standing approach of using an almost prepared text and touching base with all the ministries announcing a scheme for each, that sounds like a laundry list. But then he did much more and in an impressive manner. He went a step further in his extempore campaign style oratory that saw him emerge as a clear winner some three months ago. He set national goals for the people through a slogan mongering spree-thus for the manufacturing sector he put emphasis on ‘Made in India,’ to the global investors his call was ‘Make in India’. He also called for a Digital India that empowers e-governance. He invoked legends like Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi, Gautam Buddha to flash the RSS- vision of “Bharat being a Jagatguru”.

But even as he wished to scale lofty heights he could not help betraying his partisan political campaign instincts. He ignored Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and made glowing references to Sardar Patel and Lal Bahadur Shastri. The end of his speech was not marked just by Jai Hind, but also included the other slogans-Bharat Mata ki Jai, and Vande Matram. In his brazen style, he did not mind repackaging the UPA programmes like sanitation, skill development and financial inclusion to launch his ‘own ideas’’ like Swachh Bharat and the like.

Some states have been already running schemes for creating model villages, the prime minister now called upon each MP to develop one village in his constituency, and promised a framework for it in place by October 2. Taking his SAARC initiative forward, he called upon the region to come together to wage a war on poverty and in the context drew upon his recent visits to Nepal and Bhutan.

The air was full of anticipation as even his supporters have been worried that post-election, the ever articulate Narendra Modi had gone into his shell on policy issues.

But then beyond a reassertion of pious intentions, and honourable objectives like fighting rapes, the curse of female foeticide and harnessing the power of 125 crore people, the only substantive measure announced by him is that the Planning Commission has outlived its role and would now be replaced by a new institution which would strengthen state governments with a new outlook, new body and soul and with new direction. The people of the country have been already sold over to his skills as an orator, his promises have covered the broad sweep of their concerns be caste or communal violence, the rapes or the low sex ratio.

In his oration, the prime minister went into the role of a social reformer and asserted that instances of communal violence have been going on for too long and they stall the growth of the nation. He also posed a powerful query to the parents: “ After all, the rapist is someone's son.

As parents, have we asked our sons where he is going? Why not put same yardstick for sons too?” On the imbalance in the sex ratio, he observed:” Who is creating this imbalance? Not God. I appeal to the doctors not to kill the girl child in the mother's womb. I request the parents not to kill daughters because they want a son. Don't kill daughters in the womb, it is a blot on 21st century India.”