Narendra Modi's 'important message' turned out to be about Mission Shakti, but before PM spoke, Twitterati had other theories

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, in an address to the nation, announced that India has become the fourth nation in the world to achieve the feat of sending an anti-satellite missile to space, as part of its Mission Shakti.

Modi announced that India has successfully tested the Anti-Satellite (ASAT) Missile and congratulated the scientists for achieving this remarking feat of shooting down a satellite in just three minutes.

However, before Modi’s announcement, there was a fair deal of speculation about what he was going to say considering the prime minister tweeted from his personal handle that he was going to address the nation for an important announcement. Modi had tweeted that he would address the nation it between 11.45 am and noon. However, his address was delayed until about 12.20 pm. Thus, the time gap gave the Twiterrati enough time to speculate on the various possibilities of what could be announced by the prime minister.

From national security, proof of Balakot IAF air strike, to demonetisation 2.0, and arrest/death of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar and underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, people quickly started speculating all sorts of conjectures in anticipation of the big announcement, which was coming at a crucial juncture ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

Here are some of the offbeat reactions which were seen floating on social media, just minutes before the space achievement was announced by Modi :

I understand the delay. Modi is going to ban Mankading but he's not convinced that Ashwin deceived Buttler. Probably watching a few replays before he can make the announcement

— Priyansh (@Privaricate) March 27, 2019

All sorts of speculation people making :

- Economic
- Dawood
- Extradition
- Some more strikes
- Etc. etc.

— Tarun Shukla (@shukla_tarun) March 27, 2019

The delay also made some people question the reason behind it, some even making light of the matter even as other dived deep to solve the Modi announcement mystery:

Maybe Modiji himself is waiting in front of an ATM and hence the delay

— Veena (@veenavenugopal) March 27, 2019

Others suggested that the delay could be to ensure that the prime minister’s speech doesn’t violate the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) which is in force ahead of the General Election.

Sources:
Last minute vetting of @narendramodi speech/message so that there is no violation of MCC.
Being told top legal eagles being consulted by Govt/Party.#PMAddressToNation

— 🦏 Payal M/પાયલ મેહતા/ पायल मेहता/ পাযেল মেহতা (@payalmehta100) March 27, 2019

Meanwhile, lots of political reactions have also poured in on the announcement, with TMC chief and West Bengal chief Minister Mamata Banerjee even calling it a “gross violation” of the poll code. Whereas, Omar Abdullah described it as a case of “mountains and molehills” referring to possible political insignificance of the anticipated announcement.