Bharat became independent 78 years ago. But it had a false start. Freedom came in three different phases: politically, the country gained independence on August 15, 1947. But here critics argue that the British were allowed to interfere in the internal workings of the country for almost a decade, if not more. It all began with Lord Mountbatten being allowed to continue as independent Bharat’s first viceroy. The British generals continued to run Bharat’s armed forces. In fact, it took the Navy 11 years to get a desi chief, with the appointment of Vice Admiral Ram Dass Katari in 1958.

In 1991, Bharat gained economic independence, and since then there have been several reforms aimed at fully liberating the economy—first from statist socialistic practices and since 2014 from predatory capitalist ones. Then in 2014, the country saw the third phase coming into its own. While the contours of the transformation in this phase are still being drawn, it is obvious that Bharat under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has truly and categorically entered the Second Republic, saying a final goodbye to the Nehruvian........

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