Agencies
NEW DELHI, Jan 31: President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday hailed the Modi government's big ticket reforms in the last 10 years and said the centuries-old desire to build a Ram temple in Ayodhya has now become reality while apprehensions over the abrogation of Article 370 are a thing of the past.
In her first address to a joint sitting of the two Houses in the new Parliament building in which she touched on varied issues ranging from insurgency to inflation, Murmu said a country can progress at a fast pace only when it defeats the challenges of the past and puts maximum energy into building the future.
She asserted that the armed forces were giving a befitting reply to terrorism and expansionism. Murmu also said India is now a prominent voice against terrorism in the world.
The government, she said, believes the grand edifice of a developed India will stand on the four strong pillars of youth power, women power, farmers and the poor.
"In the last 10 years, the country has witnessed the completion of projects for which the people had waited for decades. There was the desire for building the Ram Mandir for centuries and today it has become a reality," she said to thumping of desks from the treasury benches.
"In cultural history, there are some milestones that decide the future of centuries. In India's history also there have been numerous such milestones. On January 22, the country witnessed one such milestone. After centuries-long wait, Ram Lalla now resides in a grand temple in Ayodhya," she said.
Following the consecration ceremony in Ayodhya Dham, 13 lakh devotees have done 'darshan' in just five days, the president noted.
She said there were apprehensions over the removal of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir "but they have become history now".
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