What's The Point Of PM Modi's 'Interviews' If He Won't Answer Real Questions? But he did! 'Chaliye, Puducherry ko Vanakkam'
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi’s first ‘exclusive’ interview of 2019 to news agency ANI is
one among a handful that he has granted to certain media outlets since coming
to power in 2014. The interview has evoked some sharp responses from the
Opposition, which has called the whole exercise “fixed”. Until now, Modi has managed to keep the media at an
arm’s length and has avoided being asked difficult questions. This is through a careful
combination of techniques - he is active on Twitter, where he posts
announcements of new schemes, condolences for the recently departed and often
responds to praise. He sometimes conducts interviews via email, where there is
no chance of difficult follow-up questions.
His government’s most
ambitious (and possibly destructive)
gambit so far, demonetisation,
was announced through a surprise speech at night. There is no chance of an
annoying counter-question popping up on his regular radio show. He has not held
a single press conference in India since becoming the
prime minister. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has ridiculed former
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and called him a “silent PM” on several
occasions. Singh recently took
a dig at Modi and said that unlike his successor, he had never been
scared of facing the press. Carefully controlled communication, as Reuters had
pointed out soon after Modi took over as PM, has been a defining characteristic
of the BJP government.
Union ministers too
seem to have taken a cue from him. The Wire points out that ministers, such as
home minister Rajnath Singh, who earlier had cordial relationships with the
media, have walled themselves up. Another report says that most ministers are loath to
have regular dealings with the free press and instead prefer engaging through
Doordarshan or All India Radio (AIR).
Swati Chaturvedi has
written a comprehensive piece for The Wire, asking why the Prime Minister is terrified of
holding even a single press conference. She points out that Modi also did away
with the practice of carrying the media with him on his dizzying schedule of
foreign trips. While Modi has never given a press conference as the Prime
Minister, he is quite active on social media. This form of communication is
however, largely one-way and there is no scope of a debate... read
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