On the 79th Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered his address from the Red Fort, emphasising India’s achievements in national security, development, and self-reliance. While Modi highlighted ambitious government initiatives aimed at strengthening the country’s future, opposition leaders from the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Congress responded with strong criticisms, raising concerns over democracy, governance, and electoral integrity.
SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav reacted sharply to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day speech, particularly his reference to the RSS. Yadav accused the BJP of abandoning the secular and socialist values it had once pledged to uphold. He remarked, “The RSS family’s path is neither secular nor socialist. They speak of swadeshi (self-reliance) with their mouths but think foreign in their hearts.” Emphasising the importance of the country's founding principles, Yadav said the BJP should remember its first session and the commitment it made to secularism. He asserted that only secular and socialist ideologies can lead India forward, pointing out that the RSS’s ideology fundamentally contradicts the idea of a secular nation.
The Congress party marked the occasion by celebrating the inauguration of their new permanent headquarters and reaffirming their historic role in India’s independence struggle and nation-building.
Congress party leader Mallikarjun Kharge recalled the party’s critical contributions post-independence, including drafting the Constitution and establishing the foundations of a strong, democratic India based on equal rights for all citizens under the principle of ‘One Person-One Vote-One Value.’ While expressing pride in India’s progress in industries, infrastructure, education, and space technology over the decades, Kharge voiced serious concerns about recent challenges.
He criticised the government for rising unemployment, the poor quality of infrastructure projects, and the politicization of key constitutional institutions such as the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Income Tax Department, and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). These institutions, he argued, have been misused to target political opponents—a situation serious enough to warrant intervention by the Supreme Court.
Kharge also lamented India’s diminishing stature as a respected voice among developing nations, attributing it to shifts in foreign policy and the erosion of the country’s traditional non-aligned stance. A major point of contention was electoral integrity. Kharge pointed to widespread irregularities in voter lists, including the exclusion and misclassification of millions of voters, manipulations under the guise of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, and a lack of transparency from the Election Commission.
He thanked the Supreme Court for ordering the publication of voter lists and accused the ruling party of benefiting from these irregularities to secure key election victories. Raising the alarm over the future of Indian democracy, Kharge urged Congress workers and citizens nationwide to scrutinise local voter lists and report discrepancies through a dedicated party-launched website.
Emphasising that the current struggle transcends electoral victories, he called it a fight to protect the Constitution and democratic ideals championed by freedom fighters like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. In this vein, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi announced the launch of a “Vote Rights Yatra” from Sasaram, Bihar, starting August 17, encouraging people to join the movement to safeguard electoral rights.
This Independence Day highlighted a stark political divide: Prime Minister Modi’s focus on national security, technological progress, and economic initiatives stood in contrast to opposition leaders’ warnings about democratic erosion, governance challenges, and threats to electoral fairness. The discourse sets the stage for intensified political battles as India approaches its centenary of independence in 2047
