PM Modi to unfurl national flag for 11th time on I-Day

♦ Modi surpasses Manmohan Singh, now behind Nehru and Indira Gandhi in flag hoistings

♦ Expected themes include ‘Viksit Bharat’ and the crisis in Bangladesh

♦ Modi may discuss the impact of a decade of reforms and welfare programs

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will unfurl the national flag for the 11th time in a row on Thursday on Independence Day - the centrepiece annual event where he lays out his government’s agenda, presents its report card, makes important policy and programme announcements and speaks about burning issues. His first Independence Day address of his third term will take him past Manmohan Singh, who unfurled the tricolour 10 times from the ramparts of Red Fort during 2004-2014, and place him behind Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, who did the honours 17 and 16 times respectively. While the theme of ‘Viksit Bharat’ is expected to animate his address, there is a view that the crisis in Bangladesh, especially the targeting of minority Hindus, may find a mention in his speech, more so as Hindutva groups have strongly taken up the issue and hit the streets.

Modi may also speak about the mandate for his government for a third straight term, though with a reduced majority, and dwell at length on how reforms, development programmes and welfare measures rolled out in the last 10 years have impacted the lives of the people. It will be eagerly seen if the prime minister announces any new initiative or expand the ambit of some ongoing welfare programmes at a time when a combined opposition, at its strongest in the last 10 years, has pivoted to populist welfare promises to draw support. Jammu and Kashmir has often figured in his August 15 speeches as the government has worked overtime to reconfigure the security and development paradigms in the erstwhile state, now a Union territory, since scrapping Article 370 in 2019. Of late, the region, especially the Jammu division, has seen several terror incidents, leading to the deaths of several security personnel.

The Supreme Court has set September 30 as the deadline for the holding of assembly elections there. There is also an anticipation that some of the key decisions taken by the government since he assumed the office in June for a third term may be highlighted by him.

Such decisions include an expansion of the housing scheme for the poor, major boost to road and rail infra, and a proposed change in the law regulating Waqf boards and properties, which have drawn vehement criticism from opposition parties.