President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday said the mandate the Narendra Modi government had got was “for continuing uninterrupted” the journey of development started in 2014 as he outlined the vision of a “New India”, quoting the words of two iconic personalities from Kerala and Bengal.
The choice of the icons — Shri Narayana Guru and Rabindranath Tagore — wasn’t lost on political circles: the two states figure prominently on the BJP’s radar as part of its pan-India expansion plans.
Kovind was addressing a joint sitting of the two Houses of Parliament after the Narendra Modi government returned to power last month with a bigger majority.
The government drafts the presidential address that outlines its policy priorities and plans.
“The New India’s vision is motivated by the noble thoughts of Shri Narayana Guru, Kerala’s great spiritual figure, social reformer and poet,” Kovind said before going on to quote the 19th-century-born leader. “An ideal place is one where people live like brothers free from the discrimination of caste and religion.”
The President then mentioned Tagore. “The New India will move forward towards that ideal state envisioned by Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, where the mind of the people is without fear and the head is held high with self-esteem,” he said, quoting the Nobel laureate.
Political circles interpreted the mention of the two icons as part of the Modi government’s outreach to the people of the two states. The BJP won 18 of Bengal’s 42 Lok Sabha seats in the April-May general election in a dramatic surge and is now eyeing a shot at power in the state elections due in 2021.
Kerala remained out of the BJP’s grip but the party — which drew a blank again — is determined to make inroads into the southern state.
Before outlining the vision of a “New India”, Kovind praised the Modi government’s achievements between 2014 and 2019. “After assessing the performance of the government during the first tenure, the people have given even a stronger support for the second term. By doing so, the people of the country have given a mandate for continuing uninterrupted and at an accelerated pace the journey of development which started in 2014,” he said.
An atmosphere of “gloom and instability” existed before 2014, he added.
The President lauded all the flagship welfare and other schemes of the government, with “national security” and the reference to the Balakot air strikes receiving a big applause from the BJP members.
“India has amply demonstrated both her intent and capabilities, first through the (September 2016) surgical strikes and then through air strikes, after the Pulwama attack, at terrorist hideouts across the border,” Kovind said.
The address dwelt on the government’s push to flush out “illegal infiltrators”, another major political plank of the BJP. “Illegal infiltrators pose a major threat to our national security. This is leading to social imbalance in many parts of the country, as well as putting a huge pressure on limited livelihood opportunities,” he said, referring to the drive to update the “National Register of Citizens”.
The instant triple talaq, another key political plank, figured in the speech too. “To secure equal rights for every sister and daughter in the country, eradication of social evils like ‘triple talaq’ and ‘nikah-halala’ is imperative,” Kovind said.
The government is set to move a bill to ban instant triple talaq, which the Supreme Court has declared unconstitutional.
Nikah-halala mandates that if a divorced Muslim woman wants to remarry her ex-husband, she must first marry another man, consummate the marriage and divorce him.
The push for simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections figured prominently, a day after Modi had chaired an all-party meeting on the issue.
“One Nation-Simultaneous Elections is the need of the hour, which would facilitate accelerated development,” Kovind said, urging MPs to “seriously ponder” the idea.
Kovind urged all MPs to move ahead with the resolve to realise the idea of New India by 2022, the 75th year of Independence, promising virtually a country free of major problems.
In New India, he said, farmers’ income will double; every poor will have a pucca roof over his head and access to clean fuel, electricity and medical facilities.
The country, the President added, will be free of pollution and open defecation; the Ganga will flow uninterrupted and India will be close to becoming a $5-trillion economy.