THE OUTSIDER WHO CHANGED A NATION

POLICIES THAT RESHAPED INDIA'S EVERYDAY LIFE

- Smriti Kak Ramachandran

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ll-year-long tenure at the Centre has been marked by transformative changes in governance and policy, creating a new paradigm in ease of living and welfare, and boosting the country’s economy and defence

Dressed in a white kurta with a flaming orange and green Rajasthani Safa (turban), newly elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi stepped up to the ramparts of the Red Fort on Independence Day in 2014 and described himself as an “outsider to Delhi”.

He said he had no idea about the administration and working of the place, but was blessed with insight. “I have been quite isolated from the elite class of this place but during the last two months while being an outsider, I had an insider view and I was astonished...It seemed as if dozens of separate governments are running at the same time in one main government. It appears that everyone has their own fiefdom. I could observe disunity and conflict among them,” he said.

The speech set the tone for the transformation in governance and policy that has since become the hallmark of the Narendra Modi-led government — whether it be in ushering in new laws and decolonising British-era statutes, resetting foreign policy and the channels of communication, redrawing the strategy against both cross-border terrorism and Left Wing extremism, or creating a new paradigm on welfare and ease-of-living.

“After he became the PM, one big change was visible in political communication. He changed the way the PM communicated with the people from online to offline. And there was no need for intermediaries...he reached out directly to the masses and he spoke to all sections of society,” said a senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Union minister, requesting anonymity.

Politics