The recently concluded 10th Governing Council Meeting of NITI Aayog, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was nothing short of a political spectacle—a moment of rare unity, strategic calm, and quiet triumphalism. With the theme “Viksit Rajya for Viksit Bharat@2047,” the meeting was intended to foster cooperative federalism and align the states behind India’s vision to become a developed nation by its centenary of Independence. But beneath the smiling photo-ops and folded hands lay a larger, undeniable truth: India stands stronger, more confident, and more united today, despite the sneers of a fractured and ideologically confused Opposition. This was no routine policy huddle. The timing is crucial. Just days after a decisive Indian response to yet another provocation by the Pakistani deep state, the country has watched its government not only call Pakistan’s nuclear bluff but dismantle, with surgical precision, key terror infrastructure across the border. Nine Pakistani air bases neutralized. Multiple launch pads destroyed. Key operatives of Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Toiba eliminated. Even the dreaded Mansoor Asad’s family was not spared. It wasn’t just a tactical success. It was a geopolitical signal: India will not be bled silently anymore. No wonder, then, that most chief ministers, including those from Opposition-ruled states like Punjab’s Bhagwant Mann and Telangana’s Revanth Reddy, showed up and shook hands with the man they otherwise mock on podiums—Narendra Modi. Only two prominent absentees stood out like sore thumbs: West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee and Karnataka’s Siddaramaiah. It’s worth asking—what exactly are they boycotting? The meeting of NITI Aayog or the emergence of a confident, self-reliant India?
The Prime Minister’s call for states to identify and develop “One State: One Global Destination” was more than policy jargon. It was a challenge to the parochialism that has long plagued Indian federal politics. It was a call to rise above caste arithmetic, quota gimmicks, and subsidy politics—to think like Team India. But then again, that assumes you want to play for India, not against it. Modi didn’t mince words. “When every state becomes Viksit, only then will Bharat be Viksit,” he said, reiterating a simple truth that many Opposition leaders still fail to grasp: development is not a zero-sum game. But perhaps the silence of the Congress and its allies on India’s victory over Pakistan speaks louder than words. This is a party that once demanded proof of the Balakot strike. Today, with hard evidence of Pakistani military embarrassment and terrorist hideouts flattened, Congress and its INDI Alliance partners offer not congratulations, but cold shoulders. Their reluctance is telling. It isn’t about policy differences—it’s about a deeply entrenched discomfort with India’s rising stature under Modi. From overt criticism of India’s foreign policy to backhanded jibes at economic milestones (India recently overtook Japan to become the world’s 4th largest economy), the Opposition is caught between grudging admiration and chronic denial. Yet, Modi remains unflinching. He welcomed all who came. He smiled with those who often mock him—Revanth Reddy, Stalin, and Mann. But he also laid down the gauntlet: development must touch the lives of every citizen; only then does policy become movement, and movement become transformation. Of course, one wonders: will the usual suspects—those who see Hindutva in highways and fascism in fiscal discipline—ever get on board? The old proverb comes to mind: Can a dog’s tail ever be straightened? Perhaps not. But then again, India isn’t waiting for them to catch up. The train has left the station. As the nation charges ahead toward 2047, the message from this NITI Aayog meeting is clear: the door is open, but history won’t wait for the hesitant.
