CM Rekha Gupta shares Modi's Vijayadashami call to defeat India's enemies
Synopsis
Key Takeaways
On the occasion of Vijayadashami 2026, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta amplified a sharp message from Prime Minister Narendra Modi — a call to recognise and defeat the enemies of Maa Bharati (Mother India), framing divisive forces and cultural hostility as threats to the nation.
Quoting the Prime Minister directly, CM Gupta shared: 'We must identify the enemies of Mother India and defeat them. Forces that hurt the honour and dignity of the nation, people who divide society, and the mentality of hatred towards our culture — these are the enemies of the country.'
Modi's Vijayadashami message: unity, honour, and a call to arms
Prime Minister Modi has delivered Vijayadashami addresses consistently since 2014, anchoring the festival's symbolism — the triumph of good over evil — to contemporary concerns around national security, social cohesion, and cultural preservation. This year's message follows that arc, but with notably direct language: three categories of threat named in a single breath.
The trio — forces that damage national honour, those who divide society, and a mindset hostile to Indian culture — maps onto a framing the BJP has returned to repeatedly during festival seasons. Vijayadashami, observed across India with the burning of Ravana effigies, lends itself naturally to this kind of symbolic political messaging: if Ravana is evil vanquished, the rhetorical invitation is always — who is today's Ravana?
Why CM Gupta's amplification matters in Delhi's political landscape
By sharing the Prime Minister's quote on the evening of Tuesday, October 20, 2026, CM Gupta aligned Delhi's BJP government squarely with the Centre's nationalist messaging on one of Hinduism's most significant festivals. Delhi, a political crucible where the BJP and its rivals have fought bitterly over civic governance and cultural identity, gives such amplification added resonance.
The choice to quote Modi verbatim — rather than offer her own original statement — is itself a signal: this is party-line messaging, unified from the top down, on a day when millions of Indians are already primed for symbolic narratives about victory over darkness.
Vijayadashami has long served as a calendar date for political stock-taking in India. As the effigies burn, the speeches frame what — and who — needs to be overcome. This year, the Prime Minister's words, carried by Delhi's Chief Minister to her followers, make that framing unmistakably clear.