'Start up India, Stand up India’: PM Modi’s most emphatic quotes from his Independence Day speech

To say that Narendra Modi is a fiery orator, is an understatement. The Indian Prime Minister is one of the most fierce and hard-hitting speakers in Indian politics today and can wax eloquent in crisp Hindi for hours, even without a ‘cheat sheet’ as was evident from today’s 90-minute long Independence Day address from the Red Fort. Last year he spoke about ‘Swachh Bharat’ and Niti Ayog, today he made his points on OROP and corruption in his trademark style complete with voice modulation and appropriate gesticulation. Here are some of PM Modi’s most emphatic quotes. On allegations of corruption  This line was one of the most impactful one as he insisted that his pre-election promise of ‘corruption-free government’ was holding good and thee wasn’t a single allegation of corruption in the ‘government people elected in Delhi’. While it remains to be seen if its actually true, his intonation was clear - I’m still Mr. Clean. On Swachh Bharat, his pet project  Can a PM Modi address a nation-wide gathering go without mentioning his pet project _Swachh Bhara_t? Soon into his this year’s Independence Day address he referred to his last year’s speech where he spoke about this cleanliness drive and mentioned how it may have seems odd back then, a year later it has been something that binds India. On ‘Vikas ka pyramid’  A phrase coined by Modi himself, he likened India’s progress to a pyramid in connection to financial inclusion which required a strong foundation, as the base of a pyramid the widest and most important. On fighting ‘brashtachaar’  Modi’s impassioned defense against corruption was filled with analogy. ‘Brashtachaar deemak ki tarah hota hain,’ he said, referring to corruption as termites that creep into a house slowly and eat up everything which can only be beaten by regular ‘injections’. He also said that he believed, ‘Yeh desh brashtachaar se mukt ho sakta hain.’ (This country can be rid of corruption) On farmers  As Modi announced that the Agriculture Ministry will be renamed as Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare for institutionalised care of the farmers, he added this variation of Lal Bahadur Shashtri’s famous line ‘Jai Jawaan, Jai Kisaan’. On start-ups in India  The topic of upcoming entrepreneurs and start-ups in India seems to be a topic lose to Modi’s heart as he repeated ‘Start up India, Stand up India’ at least three times with increasing fervour.   On One Rank, One Pension (OROP)  This was one topic that many waited to hear Modi’s views on and he didn’t disappoint even though he waited till the end of his speech to approach it. And while he did not give a timeline, he assured the servicemen that he has accepted OROP invoking the Indian tricolour and Red Fort. On the ‘brand ambassadors’ of Swachh Bharat  Modi insisted that the real ambassadors of his favorite project Swachh Bharat were not the celebs who walked the streets with a broom but the little children of India who encouraged their families to maintain cleanliness. On the ultimate goal for Swachh Bharat  In the same vein, he expressed that his aim was to dedicate the Swachch Bharat Abhiyaan to Mahatma Gandhi on his 150th anniversary.   On his vision for India  In his chaste Hindi, this is the message that Modi ended his 90-minute long speech with, expressing his vision for prosperous and clean India. Parting Shot  In conclusion, this one-liner, while talking about corruption, seems to be one that struck a chord as Modi said it with utmost enthusiasm.