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At 74, Narendra Modi knows that he must listen to the new India for his politics and ideas to stay young
PM Modi delivered the keynote address and unveiled the Samadhan Document at CNN-News18 Rising Bharat Summit 2025. (Image/News18)
At Network18’s Rising Bharat 2025 summit, PM Narendra Modi explained with an invisible projector the anatomy of India’s new politics. Without mentioning Rahul Gandhi, he casually exhibited how his approach to politics was starkly different, fresh, and youthful compared to his chief opponent’s (who happens to be two decades younger).
“We can’t burden 21st century’s aspirations with 20th century’s politics,” Modi said. Putting the aspirations of the youth above appeasement, he reminded the nation how the politics of the past harped on misleading ordinary Muslims and empowering fundamentalists so that a select few and their families could keep enjoying power.
“Many nations got independence around the time India did. How many of them were given Partition along with Independence? Ordinary Muslims did not want it. Why did that happen? Because some leaders did it for the lust of power. But what did ordinary Muslims get?” the PM asked.
He said the 2013 Waqf amendment brought by the Congress-led UPA was to please Islamists. Fundamentalists and the land mafia flourished.
“Kerala Christians’ land, farmers’ land in Karnataka were snatched. Mandir, church, gurdwara, crops…just one claim notice would come, and one had to scamper for papers to desperately save what was theirs,” Modi said. “Now, with the new amendment passed in Parliament last week, waqf land will be protected, as will the interests of women, Pasmandas, and others.”
While the PM, who is an OBC, spoke throughout about unfragmented aspirations of youth and unity of purpose of his politics of development for new India, Rahul Gandhi has been harping on divisive, old-India politics of caste census and minoritism in almost every speech, hoping that he can cause enough disgruntlement and benefit from social divisions.
PM Modi subtly took a dig at RaGa, saying inclusivity is not just a promise but policy.
He said that in the roadmap to 2047, or 100 years of India’s independence, if there is deliberation in every step, there will definitely be results (“kadam kadam par manthan hoga toh zaroor amrit niklega”).
Those who said India must go “slow and steady” are now talking about “fast and fearless”, he said, citing the rise of the Indian economy from 11th place to 5th in just 10 years.
“Who is driving this amazing speed of growth? Bharat’s youth, their aspirations and ambitions,” he said. “Delay is the enemy of development.”
Standing on April 8, the first 100 days of 2025, he listed a long dropdown of recent achievements, from 6,000 new medical and 10,000 new IIT seats, to Atal Tinkering Labs for innovation, to expanding AI and skill development capacity, to 10,000 new PM research fellowships.
He said that after space, the nuclear sector must open up and that his government is putting the gig economy at the centre of policy.
Addressing the young and aspirational India, he kept driving in the development steps just in the last 100 days, including a space docking-undocking facility, homes for a lakh in Chhattisgarh, inaugurating the Rs 2,700 crore all-weather Sonamarg tunnel and India’s first vertical-lift sea bridge Pamban, and made-in-India choppers for the forces.
For development, he said, every country needs peace, stability, and security. He cited the new era of peace in Jammu and Kashmir after lifting Article 370, reducing Naxalism from 125 districts to less than 20, and 10 peace treaties in the Northeast in 10 years.
In entertainment, art, and culture, he exhorted the media to amplify the upcoming World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit (WAVES) and asked creators across the country to attend.
But even before his speech, PM Modi met students from six institutions across Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Varanasi, and Bengaluru who had submitted under project ‘Samadhan’ reimagined, pragmatic, future-ready solutions to critical issues ranging from urban congestion and air pollution to education reform, river rejuvenation, and sustainable waste management.
He wanted to hear more from the students. He asked them to do a bit more homework and meet him soon.
At 74, Narendra Modi knows that he must listen to the new India for his politics and ideas to stay young.
Abhijit Majumder is a senior journalist. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views
