Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been giving several interviews to different media houses this election season. On the last day of the campaign for Phase 6, Modi spoke to The Indian Express on issues of nationalism, his term as the prime minister, his digs at Rajiv Gandhi, Hindu terror, and social media unmasking the political biases of journalists.
Here are seven takeaways from the interview.
Journalists Losing Credibility?
Modi said journalism was losing its credibility as an unbiased source of news because the political views of journalists are evident on social media. “Newspapers were a kind of satyagraha” in the independence struggle, and it wouldn’t matter as to who wrote a piece about whom, he said. But with the advent of social media, he continued, one can tell the political inclinations of journalists from reading their tweets. This, he said, was tainting the credibility of their neutral reportage.
“Today, the masks are off all journalists… Your personal views are visible on social media. People now analyse that… the personal views being reflected in the media are not the neutrality of the media. Isliye, aaj aapki pratishtha jo daaon pe lagi hai, iske kaaran lagi hai (That is why, if your reputation is on the line, it is because of that).”
Modi took the offensive and accused The Indian Express of biased reportage on him.
When asked what wasn’t possible for his government even with 282 seats, he light-heartedly said, “Getting The Indian Express to be objective in criticism of Modi.”
He alleged that the Congress went back to its old ways of corruption as soon as they came to power in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh after the state elections. He claimed “bundles of notes started re-surfacing” which were meant to feed poor kids, but that The Indian Express did not view it as corruption. He also accused the newspaper of going silent on the Alwar gang rape and when Modi supporters were arrested for chanting his name in Madhya Pradesh.
Modi’s Controlling Image
Speaking on the issue of his ‘controlling’ image, The Indian Express asked if Modi has ever been over-ruled in Cabinet or in party meetings. To this, he responded by saying that he has had allotted days of the week in his time as the chief minister of Gujarat where ex-MLAs could meet government functionaries to “openly express their opinions” and the feedback from these meetings would be discussed in ‘Zero Hour’.
“Similarly in Parliament (at the Centre), all you need to do is to find out the average time of Cabinet meetings during the Manmohan Singh government. The average time was 20 minutes. The average time of my Cabinet meetings is three hours. What do you think happens over that time?” he asked.
Relationship With the Opposition in a Democracy
The Indian Express also asked him about how his constant tirade against the opposition in his campaigns and vice versa doesn’t go with the spirit of democracy which “involves negotiations, give-and-take between Treasury and Opposition benches”.
“Except during elections, you will rarely find me speaking against a party or its leaders. Unless there have been some remarks (from the Opposition) that day, which I need to respond to,” he said in response.
INS Viraat Comment on Rajiv Gandhi
Modi said his INS Viraat comment on former PM Rajiv Gandhi was made after the Congress remarked that the “Army isn’t a personal jaagir (property) of Modi”.
“You tell me, ‘chor’ (thief) has been a democratic word for the last one year but ‘corrupt’ is a derogatory word for you. What is this dictionary of yours? All I said publicly was that Rajiv Gandhi passed away with this kind of image. Ek aadmi ki chhavi chor-chor-chor-chor-chor chal rahi hai, aapko us par kuchh nahin hai (One man is being constantly called a thief, you don’t have any problem with that).”
Shifting Goalposts on Demonetisation
The Prime Minister was also asked about his shifting stance on demonetisation. He said there was “no question of shifting goalposts” — it has been about corruption and cracking down on black money from day one.
“Through our initiatives against black money, have we not brought undisclosed income of Rs 1.30 lakh crore to tax? Have 3.38 lakh shell companies not been detected and de-registered? Have their directors not been disqualified?”
He said that as a result of demonetisation number of returns filed also increased from “3.8 crore in 2013-14 to 6.8 crore in 2017-18, showing 80% growth in tax base.”
Balancing Low Inflation Vs Farmer Distress
When asked about the conundrum of having low inflation rate on side and farmer distress on the other and how would he balance the scale of consumer vs producer, he said that conventional understanding indicated that a perfect balance cannot be achieved. But a hike in MSP is crucial along with direct income support would be beneficial, he continued.
He also claimed that that during his rule, 94 lakh metric tonnes of pulses and oilseeds were produced at MSP unlike the 7 lakh MT in the UPA reign.
Nationalism
He was also asked about the aggressive tone of nationalism that has come to be synonymous with the BJP government — where a certain amount of doubt is cast upon the nationalism of minorities and anybody who criticises the government policies such as demonetisation.
He never objected to a critical analysis of demonetisation on economic grounds, Modi said in response. As far as Muslim households are concerned, he said, “This situation was created by those who played the politics of vote bank. Used them as a vote bank and did not bring them into the mainstream.”
He further questioned the MLAs/MPs who call themselves secular, asking why a Muslim couldn’t be the Congress president or for that matter why Muslims aren’t being made editors-in-chief in journalism.
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