PM Modi confident of returning to power

New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday drew the battle lines for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls as he linked the opposition with three evils of corruption, dynastic politics and appeasement and spoke of a resurgent India globally on his watch, exuding confidence that he will address the nation from Red Fort again after the elections.

In his last Independence Day speech before the national elections, he called for promoting "suchita, pardarshita and nishpakshta" (probity, transparency and impartiality) in every sphere and warned people against dynastic parties who worked with the mantra of "by the family, of the family and for the family", in a clear re-election bid ahead of the polls.

The next five years are a period of unprecedented development and will prove to be a golden period in realising the dream of developed India by 2047, he said, frequently addressing citizens as 'parivarjan' (family members) and assuring people of "Modi ki guarantee" that the country will become the third largest economy in the next five years.

Warning people against opposition parties without naming any, he hit out against corruption, dynastic politics and appeasement and said these perversions became such a part of the system over the decades that people began ignoring them. "We have to look these evils in the eye and wage a war against them. We can't tolerate corruption in any form to realise the dream of a developed nation," he added. Emphasising the importance of the next five years, Modi said everything done in this 'amrit kaal' will have an impact on the next 1,000 years.

"Today we have demography, today we have democracy, today we have diversity, and this Triveni (three factors) has the potential to make every dream of India come true," he said Corruption like termites has sapped our system and it is his lifelong commitment to fight against it, Modi said. Nepotism has snatched the rights of our citizens and appeasement has inflicted the biggest harm on social justice and is a blot on our national character, the Prime Minister said. Nepotism and appeasement are the biggest enemies of development, he added.

He has often described the opposition alliance of INDIA as a collection of corrupt parties practising the politics of appeasement and promoting family rule. In contrast, under his government a "new India" brimming with self-confidence and dedicated to fulfilling people's resolves has emerged, he said in his 90-minute address to the nation from the ramparts of Red Fort.