Contrary to expectations that Narendra Modi might soften his aggressive political stance after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) fell short of a majority, like the proverbial saying that a Leopard cannot change its spot, the prime minister in his first speech to the 18th Lok Sabha, reinforced his muscular nationalism, Hindutva ideology, economic reforms, and self-aggrandizing claims of his government as a crusader against corruption. On July 2, while responding to the Motion of Thanks to the President\u2019s Address, Modi reiterated his usual rhetoric. He launched a tirade against the Congress, recalling its failures and vilifying the Nehru-Gandhi family, while delivering rhetorical assurances to voters unhappy with issues like unemployment, rising inequality, paper leaks, and price hikes.However, the make-up of the Lok Sabha has changed. With a stronger opposition, Modi was frequently interrupted, heckled, and hooted down by opposition MPs, as the speaker struggled to maintain order. Slogans like \u201ctanasahi nahi chalegi\u201d (dictatorship will not work), \u201cjustice for Manipur,\u201d \u201cBharat jodo\u201d (unite India), and \u201cjhooth bole kauwa kaatey\u201d (liar, liar) echoed through the House. Modi, true to expectations, made no bones about reminding that he is the undisputed leader and showing he would not bow to a reduced mandate. He dismissed all criticisms of his government as \u201cdeshvirodhi kshadyantra\u201d (anti-national conspiracy) and vowed to eradicate such conspiracies, signaling a continued strong stance against protestors, dissenters, and critics.Since the 2024 Lok Sabha elections reduced the BJP to 240 seats from 303 in 2019, the prime minister has signalled continuity. Most of his ministers remain unchanged, and he dismissed speculation by allowing Om Birla to continue as Lok Sabha speaker.Not to leave anyone in doubt, Modi declared : \u201cModi is still strong, his voice is still strong, and his determination is also strong. I want to assure all Indian people that Modi is not one to be scared, nor will his government be,\u201d desks as he thumped his chest.Throughout his nearly two-hour speech, Modi focused on his government\u2019s themes of muscular nationalism, Hindutva, and economic reforms. He emphasized \u201cnation first\u201d and attacked the Congress for practicing the \u201cpolitics of appeasement,\u201d claiming that true secularism was achieved under his regime. Modi repeated his promise to make India a developed nation by 2047 and the world\u2019s third-largest economy. He used terms like \u201cpolicy paralysis,\u201d \u201chopelessness,\u201d and \u201cscam-ridden\u201d to criticize past Congress governments. However, he avoided accountability for the concerns and failures raised by the opposition. While he selectively slammed the opposition for the Sandeshkhali incident in West Bengal, Modi continues to defended his BJP government in Manipur for its utter failure to prevent ethnic violence. Modi alleged that the Congress party\u2019s improved performance in the Lok Sabha was due to regional allies\u2019 support. He accused the Congress of spreading anarchy by dividing people along caste, community, and linguistic lines, and called for the Supreme Court and the Lok Sabha speaker to punish those he deemed conspirators against India\u2019s progress. Modi reasserted his Hindutva stance, claiming the Hindu faith was responsible for protecting India\u2019s diversity and history of coexistence. He accused the Congress of conspiring to weaken the armed forces and spreading lies to keep them weak, alleging a broader conspiracy against India\u2019s progress. Despite being politically weakened, Modi\u2019s speech in the Lok Sabha signals a steadfast continuation of his government\u2019s authoritarian impulses and aggressive posturing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Contrary to expectations that Narendra Modi might soften his aggressive political stance after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) fell short of a majority, like the proverbial saying that a Leopard cannot change its spot, the prime minister in his first speech to the 18th Lok Sabha, reinforced his muscular nationalism, Hindutva ideology, economic reforms, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[685],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-431739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editorial"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431739","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=431739"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431739\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=431739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=431739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=431739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}