Amidst the electoral battle, the opposition parties are unable to find adequate grounds to build their base in order to question the current government. With their incessant allegations on Rafale deal and demonetization completely backfired, the Congress party has been keen on undermining the government through other means. One of the favorite charges Opposition loves to bring repeatedly is that PM Modi hasn’t interacted much with the media. However, this is a clear case of the pot calling the kettle black.
Congress at the forefront of the opposition parties is trying to portray that the Modi government’s achievements have been a façade, unverified by the media. They love to point out the fact that PM Modi has not partaken in any press conference. According to them, the government does not face the media as they have a lot to hide. This is a complete fabrication as PM Modi has given multiple interviews to almost all mainstream media organizations; in print as well as on television.
Unless the opposition doesn’t consider The Tribune, PTI, Network 18, Indian Express, India Today, Zee News, Times Now, CNN, Hindustan Times, Dainik Jagran, Nai Duniya, Hindusthan Samachar, Times of India, Amar Ujala, The New Indian Express, DD News, UNI, ANI, ABP News, Republic, YourStory, Time Magazine; as media, then it is acceptable, the Prime Minister is indeed not talking to the media. The latest interview happened just yesterday, with the prime minister interacting with reporters from the national news channel, Aaj Tak. Moreover, just recently, he had a friendly interaction with Bollywood celebrity, Akshay Kumar; who asked him some non-political questions.
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This fixation of the opposition that only a press conference indicates interaction with the press is really amusing beyond a point. The Prime Minister has answered every single question put to him (some uncomfortable too). Not just the Prime minister, all ministers of the government have given umpteen interviews to various channels/papers. The President of the BJP very regularly faces tough questions from angry anchors.
On the other hand, it is the Congress heir, Rahul Gandhi who has not have a proper television interview since his disaster with Arnab Goswami 5 years ago; and yet his coterie has the gumption to allege that PM Modi doesn’t talk to the press.
Back in 2014, prior to the historic election in which BJP swept the Lok Sabha polls, emerging as the largest majority since 1984; Rahul Gandhi had attempted to give a television interview to Arnab Goswami for Times Now. First, Rahul Gandhi was grilled by the journalist on the fact that he hasn’t ever given an interview despite being in politics since the past decade, implying an avoidance of difficult issues. Thereafter he was bombarded with all kinds of questions including, the involvement of Congress in the 1984 riots, facing a difficult challenge from Narendra Modi, unaccounted Congress money and the various scams such as the 2G scam and CWG scam. To say that the interview was Rahul Gandhi’s worst nightmare would be an understatement. Needless to say, his party lost the following elections.
5 years later, a lot has changed, there have been fresh developments, fresh candidates and fresh issues but one thing remains in common; that is, Rahul Gandhi’s fear of television interviews. After his disastrous time with Arnab Goswami, the Congress president, although has given multiple print interviews, with media organizations such as Hindustan Times and the Week, he has avoided any television ones. In print interviews, the information flow is restricted and the interviewee is more in control over the flow of the interview than in a television interview. Apart from that, he has also done a number of conferences with a line-up of senior Congress leaders chaperoning him.
The fact that Rahul Gandhi has been in a lot of press conferences makes him believe that he can question PM Modi on his non-participation in press conferences and somehow try to implicate him of having a non-transparent government. Whereas the truth of the matter is that PM Modi has actively participated in all kinds of interviews, explaining his policies in depth and has also dealt with the difficult questions put up to him. Being a gifted orator, PM Modi has always come out gracefully from all his interviews, leaving the public and the media extremely satisfied. Rahul Gandhi, hiding from television interviews, chooses to ignore this and strangely harps on the issue of “press conference”, whenever he gets the opportunity to