Narendra Modi invoked “reform” more than two dozen times in his independence day speech at Delhi’s Red Fort earlier this month. But for all the pledges, the Modi Indians heard was not the reformer they once knew.
The Indian leader typically deploys the address to outline his grand visions for the world’s most populous country. Last year he vowed to make India a developed economy by 2047. This year’s speech, with ample references to Viksit Bharat (“Developed India”) was a record 98 minutes long.
But Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party lost its majority in June for the first time in a decade and is now having to consult allies, and sometimes retreat, on legislation. Recently it has made U-turns on bills that in the past it would have confidently pushed through parliament.