NEW DELHI — Standing before India on the first anniversary of his swearing-in, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday gave a speech that was notable for the subjects it avoided: Large-scale job creation. Manufacturing. Urbanization.

Mr. Modi instead delivered an ode to struggling India. During the speech in Mathura, a town about 90 miles southeast of Delhi, he lavished attention on farmers and said that mom-and-pop traders, not “big industrialists,” should be India’s crucial driver of job growth. Most of all, he praised the poor, who he said “will become my warriors.”

The shift was telling. After soaring through India’s political stratosphere on the economic promise “achche din aa gaye,” or “better days are coming,” Mr. Modi must face the reality that much of his agenda is still only potential.

From abroad, India is now seen as a bright spot, expected to pass China this year to become the world’s fastest-growing large economy. But at home, job growth remains sluggish. Businesses are in wait-and-see mode. And Mr. Modi has political vulnerabilities, as parliamentary opposition leaders block two of his central reform initiatives and brand him “anti-poor” and “anti-farmer.”