On Monday morning, Prime Minister Narendra Modi unfurled the Tricolour at the Red Fort and addressed the nation on its 70th Independence Day.
Dressed in a short-sleeved white kurta and a turban streaked in shades of pink, red and saffron, Modi slammed the terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir and reiterated that India would not bow before terrorism.
Other highlights of Modi’s lengthy speech included updates on his administration’s record in bringing electricity and toilets to villages, and controlling leakages in delivering subsidies in welfare reform schemes.
Once again eschewing the bulletproof enclosure used by some of his predecessors, Modi spoke on the state of the Indian economy, renewable energy and his government’s efforts at curtailing price inflation to 6%.
He also made two announcements on the occasion – a 20% increase in the pension of freedom fighters and the government’s decision to bear Rs 1 lakh medical costs for poor families.
For the Twitterati, the speech checked all the expected boxes and it quickly dismissed the address as boring and soporific.
During the live broadcast, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was seen seated in the audience, with his head bowed and his eyes closed. Social media trolled the Aam Aadmi Party chief for having been "caught sleeping" on camera.
In India, a Google doodle paid homage to India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s historic Tryst with Destiny speech in the Parliament House before the Indian Constituent Assembly on August 15, 1947.