India's resolute march towards development

Major transformations across various sectors are successfully reshaping the country's economy, governance, and global presence

- Devendra Fadnavis

History was scripted on February 8, 2025. After 26 years, the national capital territory of Delhi witnessed a thumping victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the assembly elections. Not only did the progressive, all-inclusive, good governance model of Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi ensure the defeat of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), but even the Congress, which had ruled Delhi for 15 years before the AAP, saw their security deposits forfeited in 67 out of 70 assembly seats. The Congress, from being the most powerful and dominant political party that ruled the country for more than half a century, is now struggling to survive.

Having played a crucial role in India's Independence and early governance, the Congress had the privilege of being led by the tallest leaders of the country, such as Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Subhash Chandra Bose and many others, but eventually turned into a family-run enterprise. As a fledgling nation, India aspired to stand on its own feet. But this never happened. Ill-conceived economic policies that manifested in the licence raj and structural inefficiencies at that time led to the stagnation of economic growth, which was labelled the Hindu rate of growth. The term was offending and misleading, as the slow growth was due to excessive government control, not cultural or religious factors. Sadly, not a single Congress leader condemned this unfair labelling.