The King’s Speech

Narendra Modi v/s Manmohan Singh
Two Speeches, One Nation

...a study in contrasts

On the eve of 14 Aug, we heard the news channels roaring about Modi's challenge to Mr. Singh on the Independence Day's Speech. We were eager to listen to their respective deliveries. Some of us found both of them good at their place, whereas, some of us supported else of them. So we tried to find a good article covering the flavor of their respective sugar syrup. This is a snapshot of the article published on livemint.com. Hope you like it!

One was speaking from Delhi’s Lal Qila, a 17th century fort built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as his residence.

The other was speaking from a more recent edifice, the RR Lalan College in Bhuj, Gujarat, that was established in 1953.

One was delivering his 10th address as Prime Minister. No one, other than Jawahlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister, and Indira Gandhi, his daughter, has delivered more.

The other was delivering a speech that he hoped would teleport him to New Delhi, in time for him to speak to the country from Lal Qila next year.

First, the superficial bits.

Singh’s speech lasted 31 minutes. Modi’s, 48 minutes.

Singh spoke to an audience comprising of cabinet ministers, diplomats, children from schools and some members of the public. Modi’s audience was made up of mainly locals from Kutch, BJP party workers and politicians from the area.

Both spoke in Hindi.

The Prime Minister was dressed in white kurta pyjama, dark blue jacket and his trademark light blue turban.

The Gujarat chief minister wore a white festive kurta pyjama, a white stole and a red turban.

Singh’s voice was its usual wheezy self. (We wonder why Indian politicians can’t take speaking and intonation lessons? Remember The King’s Speech and Margaret Thatcher)

Modi’s voice was stronger, his delivery more forceful.

The Prime Minister’s speech

Singh started off by acknowledging the havoc in Uttarakhand and the accident involving submarine Sindhurakshak on Wednesday, but his speech had three broad themes. It mentioned the contribution of Nehru (institution- and nation-building, central planning, industrialization); Indira Gandhi (space exploration, the Green Revolution); and Rajiv Gandhi (technological and economic modernization, Panchayati Raj); P.V. Narasimha Rao (liberalization). In a footnote of sorts, he also mentioned his own government in this section (inclusion, economic growth, entitlements). Interestingly (or expectedly, depending on how one looks at it), he ignored the contribution of what is perhaps the most reform-minded government India has ever had, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance that governed India between 1999 and 2004, effectively setting the stage for those who came later to reap the benefits of 8%-plus growth. (Read More)

Narendra Modi’s speech

Modi had several things working for him. He spoke after the Prime Minister, and could tweak his speech in response to Singh’s (like he did when he pointed to the lack of mention of people across the country who responded energetically and generously to the natural disaster at Uttarakhand, and to the lack of specifics on what exactly the Prime Minister planned to do about Pakistan, which has, in recent days, ratcheted up the intensity of its anti-India campaign).

Modi also had the advantage of being in the Opposition (which meant he could criticise the government, and, as we all know, there are a lot of things the current government can be criticized for), and at a stage in the run-up to the elections where he doesn’t really need to focus on the specifics. Peppering his speech with statistics from Gujarat (a state he has ruled since 2001), Modi pressed all the right buttons: employment, development, corruption, the weak rupee (“Please tell us how you will strengthen the rupee,” he said). (Read More)

The Full Article can be found here

Source Courtesy
Search Engine : Google
Content : livemint.com
Image : livemint.com