Bold And Brave

Faced with a polycrisis, Narendra Modi pushed through daring reforms to weather the storm. But the challenge is to stay the course

- RAJ CHENGAPPA

PRIME MINISTER NARENDRA MODI'S PENCHANT FOR alliteration is well-known. Among his favourites is 2S: Speed and Scale. He is fond of saying that if the previous governments thought speed was a luxury and scale a risk, he as prime minister made "speed the ambition of India and scale its strength". Modi has demonstrated these qualities in ample measure in almost everything he has achieved in his nine years of office and more so in the four years of his second term.

The most recent example of this is the swank, state-of-the-art, hexagonal new Parliament building that he inaugurated on May 28. The complex came up at a remarkable speed, taking just two and a half years for completion despite Covid restrictions kicking in almost from the start. Then there is the scale. The new building has a seating capacity of 1,272 for both houses of Parliament. That is 60 per cent more than the 790 seats in the original structure, and enough to accommodate any expansion in the number of MPs up to the next century. In terms of grandeur, the new Parliament combines tradition with modernity— the imposing sandstone façade, peacock motifs on its high ceilings, handloom carpets on the floor and the intricately carved wooden décor complement the computer tablets on every seat. In his address at the inaugural ceremony, the PM said, “This is the New India that is setting new goals, forging new paths. There is a new enthusiasm, a new thinking, a new vision, and a new resolution.”