Modi@2: What’s on the PM’s Mind While His Government’s Under Fire?

Narendra Modi’s ‘Mann ki Baat’ has sometimes been at odds with issues troubling the country.

There’s an odd contradiction in the Narendra Modi government. On the one hand, the media’s access is restricted to government officials, especially the Prime Minister. For the first time in recent memory, the PMO doesn’t have a media advisor. On the other hand, PM Modi does constantly communicate with the public, especially through his near constant activity on Twitter. But perhaps his most prolific ‘public outreach’ program is his monthly radio address Mann ki Baat.

Like any government, our current one has gone through ups and downs and Mann ki Baat gives us an insight on what was on the PM’s mind while things weren’t quite hunky-dory for him.

1. The Delhi Loss

After three terms in Gujarat and then a spectacular electoral performance in the 2014 general elections, Narendra Modi faced his first major electoral defeat in the Delhi Assembly elections. Despite a high-profile CM candidate (Kiran Bedi) and exhaustive campaigning by the Prime Minister himself, the BJP was unable to stop the Arvind Kejriwal juggernaut and managed to get just three seats in the January 2015 elections.

The PM, of course, did not address the issue directly. But if you read between the lines of his February radio address, you can see that the advice to students about exams can also be used by disappointed BJP workers after the loss.

2. Land Bill Woes

The Modi government’s legislative logjam began with its proposed amendments to the UPA government’s Land Acquisition law. After much debate and acrimony, the bill did pass in the Lok Sabha, but the Upper House remained beyond the government’s reach. The Opposition also managed to use the bill to paint the government as “anti-farmer”. Just before abandoning the law, one of the government’s first major legislative initiatives, the PM talked of the importance of “feedback” in his Mann ki Baat.

3. A Lynching That Shocked India

On 28 September 2015 Mohammed Akhlaq was beaten to death in his home in Dadri, a village near Noida. He was killed because he was suspected of eating beef in his home. The story grew bigger, made national headlines and the PM was accused of not doing enough to condemn and control the increasingly vocal fringe of India’s saffron movement.

On the Mann ki Baat aired in October 2015, many expected the Prime Minister to address the issue of growing ‘intolerance’, a debate that continues even today. The radio address that month, though, focused on more mundane, less controversial matters.

4. The Pathankot Attack Mess

2016 did not have a pleasant beginning. On 2 January a number of armed insurgents infiltrated the air force base at Pathankot and attacked one of India’s most prominent forward military bases. Several faux pas were committed by the government, including Home Minister Rajnath Singh tweeting that the attackers had been neutralised long before they were.

The attack had come just weeks after PM Modi ‘dropped in’ to meet Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif and was an embarrassment to the government. Questions were also raised about the way the operation was handled.

So what did the PM talk about on Mann ki Baat? Exam tips for students.

5. Are You an Anti-National?

Narendra Modi has spent a lot of time talking to students and young people through his radio address. So, when student politics began dominating national headlines many thought that he would address the issue. The FTII strike against the appointment of Gajender ‘Yudhishtir’ Chauhan, Rohith Vemula’s death, the accusation of sedition against Kanhaiya Kumar and the drama that followed found no mention in the PM’s address.

The PM did encourage school kids to be free thinkers though.