In a historic address to the joint sitting of the Indian Parliament on Wednesday, President Droupadi Murmu declared the centuries-old desire for a Ram temple in Ayodhya a fulfilled reality, hailing the efforts of the Modi government in completing several long-pending projects in its ten years in power.
Murmu's address highlighted the significance of the Ram temple construction, a decades-long contentious issue that culminated in a landmark Supreme Court judgment paving the way for its construction. She also mentioned the abrogation of Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir, stating that apprehensions over its removal have become history now.
Murmu arrived in a buggy at the Parliament House to deliver her address to the joint sitting of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. The president entered the House with the 'sengol' being carried in front of her. In her address, she also said the Indian economy used to be among the fragile five but was now moving in the right direction and at the right pace due to several reforms undertaken by the government in the last 10 years.
According to the NITI Aayog, in the 10-year rule of my government, nearly 25 crore people have come out of poverty, she said. Earlier, the country's rate of inflation was in double digits which is now within 4 per cent, she said. Murmu congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the passage of the women's reservation bill.