Prime Minister says didn’t have luxury of a ‘honeymoon period’

New Delhi: Blogging on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote, “Every new government has something that friends in the media like to call a ‘honeymoon period’. Previous governments had the luxury of extending this honeymoon up to 100 days and even beyond. Not unexpectedly, I don’t have any such luxury.”

Elaborating further on “anonymous” controversies, the PM stressed: “I surely feel that we need to strengthen systems whereby the right things are communicated to the right people at the right time.”

He went on to express the hope that “things will change”. Sharing his experiences, the PM said when he took over a month ago, “I kept thinking I am new to this place and some people believed I would take at least a year or even two to learn the intricacies of the working of the Central government”.
Fortunately, he added, a month later “that thought does not exist any longer”.

Mr Modi recalled how on this day 39 years ago (in 1975) the Emergency had been imposed in the country. “It stands out as one of the darkest periods in our history and is a grim reminder of the dangers associated with subverting the freedom of speech, press, expression and silencing opposition. Our democracy will not sustain if we can’t guarantee freedom of speech and expression,” the PM added.