President lauds note ban, surgical strikes; favours joint polls

His address to the joint session of Parliament spells out the Modi mantra: we stand for development

The uplift of the poor would continue to be the centrepiece of the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, President Pranab Mukherjee’s address to the joint session of the two Houses of Parliament reiterated.

The President’s speech is made at the beginning of the first session of Parliament in a calendar year. The speech is prepared by the government and read by the President. It outlines the achievements of the previous year and spells out the priorities of the government. 

The poor, the disadvantaged and the deprived featured at nearly 12 places in the speech.

The Jan-Dhan accounts, the