Independence Day: PM sets tone for 2019 polls, promises development for all

Expectedly, the PM also gave a report card of sorts of his government's 51-months in office

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort, his fifth and final of the current term, was replete with references to his government’s commitment to the welfare of the poor and clearly delivered with an eye on the forthcoming assembly elections to three key north Indian states and the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. 

In his 82-minute speech, the PM gave a report card of four years of his government’s policies and programmes, comparing it with that of the United Progressive Alliance-2 (UPA-2) at the same stage in 2013. 

Modi said he had provided decisive