Delhi’s first BJP government in a decade has done what seemed unimaginable just one year ago — and Kapil Mishra is here to name it out loud. Addressing the Indraprastha Cultural Festival co-organised with Sangam Talks, the Delhi minister catalogs the shift: 1.5 lakh diyas on Kartavya Path at Diwali, a drone show depicting Ram’s life on the Red Fort walls, Kavad Yatra camps expanding from 170 to 500, Navratri with 25,000 Delhi University students, and the first government-sponsored display of Shivaji’s weapons in the capital.
Mishra frames this not as governance but as civilisational correction — dismantling a decade of what he calls “urban Naxal” cultural dominance that equated Mughal history with Delhi’s identity. He challenges internal critics who find fault without acting, argues that truth and evidence-based discourse naturally defeats ideological subversion, and closes with the assertion that India has never truly been enslaved — it has always been at war. The speech is a manifesto for using cultural festivals as instruments of civilisational reclamation.

About the speaker:
Kapil Mishra is an Honorable Minister in the Delhi Legislative Assembly, holding the portfolios of Labour, Tourism, and Culture. Playing an active role in public service and administrative work, he is working on various aspects related to Delhi’s development and cultural renaissance. In his political career, he focuses specifically on social issues, public welfare policies, and the promotion of cultural programs.