Months ahead of the general elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that he will present his report card on development on the next Independence Day. He reiterated his commitment to make India a developed nation by 2047.

“I will give an account of the country’s achievements on next August 15 from Red Fort,” Modi said in the last Independence Day address of his second term.

General elections are expected during April-May, next year. The PM calmly indicated that he will return to power for a third term. Sporting a multi-colour Rajasthani bandhani print turban with an off-white kurta, v-neck jacket and churidar, the PM was upbeat about India’s growth prospects, underlining that it is the 5th largest economy at the moment.  “India will be in the world’s top three economies in coming years, this is Modi’s guarantee,” PM Modi said.

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Analysing the past 75 years, he added, “We see absolutely no lack of potential in India! The country known to be ‘Sone ki Chidiya‘ (Golden Bird) can once again stand up. It’s my firm belief that by 2047, India will emerge as a developed country.”

Global experts are saying that India will not stop now, he added.

“All rating agencies are lauding country,” he said while adding that the government has taken many steps and will continue to fight against the evils.

Fighting 3 ills

“It is high time that we open our eyes! It is high time that we realise our resolutions and potential! To fructify this all, we need to fight down three ills—corruption, nepotism and appeasement. These ills tend to exploit the people and the country; we need to root out these with the biggest possible efforts,” he said.

“We must create an environment of hate towards corruption. The way we hate squalor, we must hate corruption as well. To ensure ‘cleanliness’ in public life, we need to give a new direction to the Swachhata Abhiyan,” Modi said.

The PM pointed out that due to the relentless efforts of the governement, which included financial help and welfare schemes, around 13.5 crore people have been pulled out of poverty in just five years.

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He further elaborated the steps taken to achieve overall development. He said that his government increased States’ allocation from ₹30-lakh crore to ₹100-lakh crore, increased allocations for urban local bodies from ₹70,000 crore to ₹3-lakh crore, increased spending on housing for poor by four times from ₹90,000 crore to over ₹4-lakh crore, increased urea subsidy for farmers to ₹10-lakh crore, extended Mudra Yojana benefits of over ₹20-lakh crore and extended financial support of ₹3.5-lakh crore to MSMEs during Covid.

He said that in 2014 and 2019, “people formed this government.”

“Reform, perform and transform is powering our thinking to promote the forces of the country and lay strong foundation for the coming 1,000 years,” he said, while adding that ‘Triveni’ of Demography, Democracy and Diversity has the potential to make every dream of India come true.

On Manipur, the Prime Minister said, “In the past few weeks in the Northeast, especially in Manipur, a period of violence ensued; many people lost their lives and the honour of mothers and daughters suffered a lot; but, in the last few days, there are reports of peace. The nation is with Manipur.”

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