Prime Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Narendra Modi has done nearly 80 interviews across TV and print media as part of the Lok Sabha poll campaigning. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, meanwhile, has done only one so far.
Why so?
Especially, given the fact that the Congress has always attacked the PM for not communicating enough through press conferences.
There was a time when Gandhi would and did give interviews, either during the Uttar Pradesh (UP) polls or the last Lok Sabha elections in 2019. I remember interviewing him. But since then, every request has been turned down. The reason given is stoic. “He has nothing to say to the media anymore."
The real reason is also a deep distrust of the media and his belief that it is best to communicate with YouTubers or social media influencers. In fact, a couple of months ago, Gandhi met some of the influencers and it was believed that he would speak to them. But the wait was futile.
The PM has mastered the art of communicating directly. While, on the one hand, he is meeting social media influencers and Instagrammers, he has also used radio to connect with the people. However, this time, he has broken his own record by doing multiple interviews, with vernacular as well as national media. The PM has made it a point to target voters through these interactions speaking to popular local media as well.
Now, the Congress and Gandhi have used this to attack and take potshots at the PM; some of them are not so charitable and to which many in the media have raised an objection.
Labelling the media as “Godi" has become a common refrain of the Congress, but at a recent rally, Rahul Gandhi mocked and imitated the PM and his interviews and went a step ahead to call the interviewees as “chamcha and chamchis".
The Congress officially refused to react but when asked as to why no interviews this election season, a top leader said, “We have invited and challenged the PM to an open debate with Gandhi. The PM is yet to respond."
In stark contrast are Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra who have spoken to the media, especially the latter in Raebareili and Amethi.
Interviews during elections are the best time to communicate and make it a level-playing field. Is it a missed chance by Gandhi? Some political experts feel that the 2014 polls was in a way nemesis of Rahul Gandhi thanks to an interview given to a private channel. It did nothing to improve his image and since then the party has been reticent.
Labelling the media as “chamchas and Godi" may end up being a lost chance for the Gandhi scion as he could have said at a personal level what he says publicly. Giving interviews would have also made him look accessible, something which the PM has attempted to be successfully. Some experts say that Gandhi refuses to speak because he holds the media responsible for the repeated loss of the Congress.
Keeping quiet is not always a powerful and prudent policy.
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