Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday spoke not a word on the alleged irregularities and paper leaks in national-level exams as he delivered his monthly radio address Mann Ki Baat, continuing his practice of silence on thorny subjects.

Instead, in his first broadcast after forming his third government, he lauded the people for participating in the world’s biggest election and showing “unwavering faith in our Constitution”. He also advised people to plant trees.

If he did not directly thank the nation for again voting him to power, nor did he mention the BJP’s loss of majority on its own or the sharp fall in his personal victory margin from Varanasi.

There was, however, an overture to the tribal voters of poll-bound Jharkhand.

“Today, I thank the countrymen for reiterating their unwavering faith in our Constitution and the democratic system of the country. The 2024 election was the biggest election in the world,” Modi said, thanking the poll panel and others associated with the conduct of the elections.

The resumption of Modi’s radio address, after a poll-induced break, came amid protests by students and the Opposition against the purported rigging of the NEET-UG medical entrance exam and the alleged paper leaks and cancellations vitiating several entrance and recruitment exams.

The Opposition stalled proceedings in both Houses of Parliament last Friday
after its demand for an immediate discussion on the NEET-UG irregularities was rejected.

Earlier, Congress youth-wing protesters had stormed the office of the National
Testing Agency, which conducts the NEET and many other national-level exams, and locked it from the inside.

The issue is expected to rock Parliament again when it reopens on Monday.

The paper leaks had figured in President Droupadi Murmu’s address to the
joint session of Parliament on Thursday, when she stressed the government’s commitment to “fair investigation and ensuring strict punishment to the culprits”. She urged everyone to rise above party politics on the subject.

Modi has, however, been mum on the matter.

He, however, spoke about the Santhal Rebellion of 1855-56 against the British and extolled its leaders Sidhu and Kanhu.

“Thirtieth June is a very important day. Our tribal brothers and sisters celebrate this day as Hul Diwas. This day is associated with the indomitable courage of brave Sidhu-Kanhu, who strongly opposed the atrocities of foreign rulers,” Modi said in his broadcast.

Modi underlined that tribal communities in the Santhal Pargana region of Jharkhand (then in Bengal Presidency) had taken up arms against the British two years before India’s first war of independence in 1857.

This appeared an outreach to the tribal voters of Jharkhand, which is expected to go to the polls later this year. The BJP lost all the five Scheduled Tribe (reserved) seats in Jharkhand in the Lok Sabha elections.

A similar attempt by the BJP at tribal outreach in Bengal’s western districts had backfired spectacularly ahead of the 2021 Assembly polls. Union home minister Amit Shah had garlanded the statue of an unknown hunter, assuming it to be a sculpture of the 19th-century tribal freedom fighter Birsa Munda.

While not directly referring to his government’s return to power, Modi alluded to it by saying he had fulfilled his promise to be back with his radio programme in his last address in February.

“I take leave of you, to meet again. With this very feeling, I had told you in February that I would meet you again after the election results. And today, with Mann Ki Baat, I am again present among you,” he said.

The Prime Minister urged people to plant trees in honour of their mothers as a tribute to both motherhood and the environment.

During the poll campaign, Modi had said that after his mother’s death, he was convinced that his birth was “not biological” and that he had been sent by God to do His work.