Summary Modi will bid to silence growing criticism in a closely-watched Indian Independence Day speech.
NEW DELHI (AFP) - Narendra Modi will bid to silence growing criticism of his premiership in a closely-watched Indian Independence Day speech Saturday after key reforms stalled in a parliamentary session dogged by rows over corruption.
Modi s first August 15 address from the ramparts of Delhi s Red Fort drew praise from across the political spectrum as he tackled issues such as sexual violence, foeticide, religious unrest and a lack of toilets.
But 12 months on, problems are mounting up for the usually bullish prime minister who has had to beat a retreat on a controversial land bill and seen a national sales tax blocked by the opposition Congress party in a toxic monsoon session of parliament that finished on Thursday.
Congress has faced criticism for its tactics, but their efforts to shift the focus onto corruption scandals involving the foreign minister and two state chief ministers have tarnished the Modi administration s image.
And while the economy grew 7.5 percent for the first three months of this year, the prices of some staple foods are beginning to climb sharply with the cost of onions hitting a 22-month high.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley insisted Thursday the government would launch the key Goods and Services Tax (GST) as scheduled next April, despite the failure to push it through parliament before the recess.
But commentators say the problems with GST, which should have been a relatively easy reform to steer through, show how the once sure-footed Modi is now stumbling.
"The transformation in one year is quite amazing," Hartosh Singh Bal, of the influential current affairs magazine Caravan, told AFP.
"Last year, PM Modi, a great communicator, addressed the nation from a position of absolute strength. This year he will be speaking from a totally different position."
Modi used last year s speech to announce the end of Soviet-style economic planning by abolishing a planning commission which had been setting out five-year strategies since the early 1950s.
The only major policy to have been trailed ahead of this year s speech is a possible reform to army pensions.
But Bal said Modi would have to address the failure to win approval for GST, which is meant to replace a myriad of complex state and national levies, and that he could also speak out on corruption.
Even members of his own party have spoken of their shame over a scandal in the state of Madhya Pradesh where thousands of people are said to have paid bribes in return for jobs or places in training institutes. A number of people linked to the scandal have died in suspicious circumstances.
"I think it is necessary, even expected, that he speak of these issues tomorrow but will he, no one can say for sure," said Bal.
"Modi s government has now lost its political initiative which can t just be regained by a speech but will be decided in Bihar."
The northern state of Bihar, India s third largest with a population of around 100 million, holds elections in late September or early October, with the BJP facing an uphill battle.
Defeat would be a massive blow to Modi, whose party suffered an embarrassing wipeout in January s elections to the Delhi assembly.
Writing in The Hindustan Times, the analyst DK Singh said that while Modi remained popular, his government "will not be able to deflect the blame (onto Congress) if it does not keep its promises" to voters.
A major security operation is in place across the capital for the breakfast-time speech while extra troops have been sent to Kashmir, the troubled Himalayan territory that has been divided between India and Pakistan since the two nations won independence from Britain in 1947.
