At the Manorama News Conclave 2025, Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah delivered a message that blended measured assertion and spirited promise. “As India entered a new era under Prime Minister Modi, we ushered in governance defined not by casteism, nepotism or appeasement, but by consistent performance,” he said during a freewheeling conversation with Johny Lukose, Director (news), Manorama News, and Namrata Biji Ahuja, Chief of Bureau, Delhi, THE WEEK, after inaugurating the event.
Shah highlighted the economy’s ascent under Modi—from 11th to the top four globally, propelled by infrastructure growth, technological dynamism and startups thriving on the global stage. On internal security and counter-terrorism, he cited dramatic reduction in violence across insurgency zones. On electoral reforms, he defended the SIR (Special Intensive Revision) process. On criminal justice modernisation, Shah heralded the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita replacing the IPC—with technology-embedded hearings, online processes and a pledge to deliver justice within three years—as the biggest reform of the century.
Shah strongly defended the draft Constitution (130th amendment) Bill, which proposed removal of prime minister, chief ministers and ministers detained for more than 30 days. “Would the people want the prime minister to run the country from the jail?” he asked. “Should the chief secretary, DGP and home secretary go to the jail to get the CM to sign files?”
The conclave, held in Kochi on August 22 with the theme ‘India–pace and progress’, drew a distinguished mosaic of guests— political heavyweights, thinkers, technocrats, artists and entrepreneurs.
Speaking on the topic ‘Opposition: Taken Seriously?’, Gaurav Gogoi, deputy leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, demanded the constitution of parliament select committees to review the actions of the Election Commission and investigating agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Directorate of Enforcement. He said, with a dash of humour, that he was jealous of conclaves. “You bring all the powerful ministers here and make them answer all your questions,” he said. “They cannot bring the marshals to push you out and they cannot suspend you like they do with the MPs.”
In his valedictory address, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan offered a measured rebuttal to Shah’s comments on federal-state dynamics. He asserted that disaster funds were constitutional rights, grounded in Article 280, not acts of benevolence.
The conclave’s distinguished roster of speakers included CPI(M) state secretary M.V. Govindan, Kerala state Congress president Sunny Joseph, Congress MP Praniti Shinde, filmmaker Jeethu Joseph, actors Shwetha Menon, Asif Ali and Unnimaya Prasad, ad filmmaker and actor Prakash Varma, technologist Viju Chacko, ESG leader Bose Varghese, columnist Ram Mohan Paliyath and influencer Varsha Ramesh.