Radio’s fine, but Modi controls the narrative

The country will be relieved to see that after a prolonged gap we have a Prime Minister who talks. Narendra Modi spoke a lot when he was on the campaign trail until May this year, but much of this was confined to disparaging his opponents, often in political syntax that raised eyebrows.

And then Mr Modi went silent, maintaining an extraordinary reticence even when unconscionable developments were occurring in the country. He found his voice at Madison Square Garden in New York during his recent visit to the United States, and people cheered.

But that was to do with keeping the NRI in good humour and lacked anything for the audiences back home. That lacuna has now been addressed.

The Prime Minister’s 15-minute radio address to the country, titled Mann ki Baat or “My Thoughts”, on Friday, was a welcome event.

After the long silence of the Narasimha Rao years, the Vajpayee era, and above all the Manmohan Singh decade, it was just refreshing to hear from on high.

Through it the Prime Minister addressed his fellow citizens directly, although the message was diffused and not quite connected to current happenings.

The broadcast was perhaps meant to boost the ego of the listener and earn some political mileage, and in this case Mr Modi had in mind the villages of this vast land where it is thought the radio reaches more effectively than television.

An interesting aspect of the Prime Minister’s broadcast was the urging to the country to go get something made of khadi, the “livery of freedom” — to recall the stirring words of Jawaharlal Nehru.

The RSS paathshala of which perhaps the present Prime Minister is the most honourable schoolboy has not institutionally endorsed khadi, associated with Mahatma Gandhi and the Congress.

So, now is the RSS — through Mr Narendra Modi — seeking to appropriate khadi as well, after having done so with Sardar Patel?

The Prime Minister has promised to speak directly to the country through All India Radio once or twice a month on Sundays.

This is good news. Elected leaders should speak to their fellow citizens at regular intervals. But what Mr Narendra Modi has assiduously done is to avoid answering questions from the press at scheduled media meets.

He has shirked the responsibility of being quizzed. This is an example of one-way communication, an effort to control the narrative. It is also a shortcoming in an elected leader.

When seen in conjunction with the fact that the Prime Minister, in general, avoids attending Parliament (where he will be quizzed by fellow MPs), the pattern points to a worrying trend.

The country would be happy if Mr Modi continues connecting with the public through the All India Radio. But he should also make himself available to answer questions.