What to take home from interviews of PM Modi and Rahul Gandhi

Interview of PM Modi drew nothing new except being an exercise to recuperate brand ‘Modi’.

Weather is hot in the country and political mood is equally sizzling with rounds of elections and interviews my PM Modi and Rahul Gandhi. A recent interview that PM Modi gave to ZEE News reminds of his recent previous interviews organized in a garden, on the ghat of Banaras or in Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. Although the interviewer from ZEE News appeals before the start of the interview that the audience should not give attention to the background but to basics on which he intends to talk to PM Modi, still the whole interview was a well-directed screenplay partially shot in the garden and rest of it in stupendously decorated indoors. Even the two-piece suit of interviewer and jacket put by PM Modi look out of place in scorching hot weather in the country. The location, perhaps, was PM House.

In the whole interview, PM Modi talked about himself, what he thinks and how he feels, how he has spent a life full of struggles and a lot more which is nothing new as people of this country have heard a lot of this stuff in last five years. The questions by interviewer kept roaming around Avengers and Alexa joke or real life and reel life, instead of asking tough and penetrating questions on aspects such as unemployment, development promised in 2014 but not delivered, the naked dance of stupidity ranging from mass lynching of citizens of this country in the name of protecting 'gau mata', suppression of the freedom of expression by killings of journalists, harassments of students in premier institutions such as JNU, frightening intelligentsia of the country by terming them urban Naxalites, playing cards such as demonetization to win elections in states, intended destruction of the institutional building blocks of the democracy and a lot more. On the other hand, Modi Ji points towards the habit of self-cursing among Indians and the need for branding our democracy while bypassing the key issues facing Indians which should be the issues for these elections as well. All in all, the interview drew nothing new except being an exercise to recuperate brand 'Modi' and an event crafted as part of the election campaign by Saffron party in collaboration with friendly media platforms. This becomes evidently clear when the interviewer mentions about Modi being the only "mudda" in these elections.

On the other hand, the interview given by Rahul to Ravish Kumar of NDTV was aired live and witnessed tough questions posed by Ravish. The body language of Rahul, throughout the interview, remained reflective of his passion to discuss the issues facing the country and its people and how things can be done in the right way. He mentioned about the economic model that worked in 2004 and 2009 but started being sluggish around 2012 with a pointer that the Modi government pursued the same model instead of bringing fresh thinking on the economic policy front. In his opinion, the country needs a new economic model of development but not totally disconnected with the trajectory of economic policies in the past. It was convivial to hear about his party's vision to increase expenditure on health and education, and building educational institutions of the contemporary era. He explicitly mentioned the intention of his party to provide 22 lakhs jobs within a year of coming to power.

His honest reply that he respects the contribution of Mayawati, Akhilesh Yadav and Stalin in the polity and development of the Indian society indicates towards his political acumen seeing the possibilities of Congress forming a government after 23^rd May with support from these political heavyweights. His masterstroke from the interview came when he told Ravish that he has learned from PM Modi as well since "Narendra Modi showed how the country should not be run".

Whatever may be the outcome of elections on 23^rd May, it is clear that the campaigning by BJP and the interviews given by PM Modi to various media platforms as part of it are designed and directed, and thus merely exercises for recuperating brand 'Modi'. Such interviews lack spontaneous and tough questions on real issues facing the people posed by the interviewer and spontaneity on part of PM Modi to reply such questions which should be the heart of discourse between media and ruling political party.