On the day he completed 25 years as head of government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled a new slogan, “We Will Do It,” as the rallying cry for making India a developed country by 2047.
He said the goal would be achieved through visionary policies and hard work.
Modi spoke at the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Sabha and Seva Jyoti programme at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Delhi. He rolled out the mantra as a call-and-response, and the crowd answered in unison, repeating it back to him.
He tied the slogan to a list of national goals, each ending with the same refrain: a developed India by 2047, a top-three economy, self-reliance, a global manufacturing hub, hosting the Olympics, and a step into space.
He framed the day as more than a look back. He said it was not just a day for memories but one to fill the country’s resolutions with new energy. He said the same mantra had guided him as he took decisions and formulated and implemented policies together with the people.
“Solutions for everyone”
Modi argued that the country’s problems cut across caste and community. A farmer’s dry field or a power cut, he said, does not affect only one caste or one community, so the solutions must be for everyone.
He also named a challenge. He said one of the biggest challenges the country faces is the division of society along the lines of votes. On the scale of the task ahead, he said India may have challenges, but it also has 140 crore solutions.
“Made-in-India aircraft”
The Prime Minister cited Captain Smit Machchhar, an Indian pilot with Flydubai, who foiled an attempt by his co-pilot to crash an Israel-bound flight despite being stabbed. Modi said the world was talking about the Indian pilot today and that a day would come when it would talk about aircraft made in India.
Reflecting on 25 years
Modi spoke of the long road behind him. He said when he took the oath as Gujarat chief minister on October 7, 2001, he never imagined he would reach this milestone. He also addressed both admirers and detractors. Those who brought him victory taught him humility, he said, while those who made him fall taught him to stand up again, and critics pushed him to look within himself.
He has served continuously as head of government since October 7, 2001, first as Gujarat chief minister for three terms and then as Prime Minister after winning three Lok Sabha elections.
The “Viksit Bharat” target is not new. Modi has been laying out the 2047 vision, which marks 100 years of independence, in his Independence Day speeches. What is new is the slogan, which gives the long-term goal a short, chantable form ahead of a period of political campaigning.
