Modi also touched upon India's internal threat -- Maoism. "Maoism and terrorism are challenges to our unity and it is the need of the hour that we leave the path of the bomb and the gun join the mainstream to the path of development. Violence neither helps society nor helps the nation, nor does it give anything to future," says Modi.

Possibly the only contentious statement was that he said Sardar Patel should have been India's first PM. Congress likely to take that up.

However, he did praise the PM for starting awards for performing states.