The PM’s interview did clear the air on a lot of issues. But he should have elucidated his views much earlier
Narendra Modi is the best political orator of his generation in India. But that does not mean he has been its greatest political communicator. Indeed, when it comes to communicating, Modi and his Cabinet have been woeful, blinded with their obsession to cut out the traditional intermediary, the media, and using the internet. But as they discovered that the internet can cut both ways and the Opposition, particularly the Congress, has shown extreme competence in leveraging the internet for their benefit. Of course, none of that explains Modi’s sudden desire to give a media interview, one of the very few he has given during his term. Going through the transcript, it appears that there may be more questions than answers. Of course, journalists, including the jealous sorts who did not get the interview and Congress sympathisers in the media, will question the content. To a casual observer, the interview appeared a fairly sincere one. And it brings up the question about Modi’s reticence to be queried by the media into picture. Even one of the world’s strongmen politicians, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, has a long-winded annual press conference where — though questions might be scanned in advance — he does express views on anything and everything, including his personal life. Modi’s urge to cut out the media and focus only on giving his thoughts to the nation in his boring radio address is archaic and does not behove a Prime Minister of the world’s largest democracy.
As for this interview, it appears to be the first salvo fired by Modi towards the 2019 General Election. He addressed several issues, including demonetisation and the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax, that have dogged him for months. In fact, it would have served Modi well to have addressed these issues with the media earlier as well, something that even US President Donald Trump, no fan of the media himself, addresses ever so often. A press conference or two would have done Modi no harm and he could have avoided any topic that he did not want to talk about. However, in believing the hype that he controlled the media and that the latter was obsessed by him, Modi did himself, and the narrative that he wanted to control, no favours at all. As it is, the Opposition Congress has its tails up and Modi is faced with the toughest election in his life in a few months. So was this interview a case of ‘too little, too late?’ Only time will answer this question but the one lesson that the occupant of the Prime Minister’s seat come end-May 2019, whether that is Narendra Modi again or someone else, should draw is that the internet and social media or even a monthly radio broadcast are no substitute to being questioned by a journalist. Hopefully, whoever that person is, engages with the media far better than Modi did during this term.
