If one reads Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s interview to Moneycontrol, one gets a sense of how brilliantly he addressed the various constituencies: local, national as well as international communities. The way he touched upon some of the issues connected to the people at the grassroots gave me a sense of how much importance he attaches to regional and local issues.
And the way he replied on questions relating to the country, conveyed how he has a firm grip on national issues. In his handling of questions on international matters and India’s relations with foreign countries, one got a sense of how he foregrounds India’s importance in the world, whether the issue he is talking about deals with global economic development, technological advancements or even environmental concerns.
Grounded And Visionary Statesman
It is interesting how his responses to various questions by the interviewers at times addressed the national audience and on other instances conveyed strong messages to an international audience and global leaders.
PM Modi, at several places, stressed the importance of smaller cities and towns and other regions of India, juxtaposing it with the country’s capital, New Delhi. He clearly mentioned that holding several meetings of G20 across India as well as his hosting of heads of other nations in various other cities and not solely in Delhi had been designed on purpose and was not a coincidence.
Conveying his idea of cherishing India’s diversity and giving importance to smaller towns and cities, he specifically cited that none of his major events were staged at Vigyan Bhawan, the venue for most of the big government events.
At various occasions in the interview, he very systematically conveyed the achievements of his government, and his commitment to fulfilling the promises he had made to the people before coming to power in 2014. He mentioned that the vote in 2014 was a vote for hope and promises. The vote in 2019, which was even bigger, was a combination of a vote for performance and further expectations.
Telling India’s Digital Success Story Best
He emphatically mentioned the achievements of his government in public digital infrastructure, which was instrumental in the big success story of the world’s largest vaccine drive involving 200 crores doses being provided free to the people of India.
In the interview he did not miss even a single chance in narrating the India growth story, talking up his Make in India initiative, and the big leaps by startups since 2014. He also emphasised how the digital transformation had helped the poor of the country by making possible direct transfers of benefits, which has resulted in 13.5 crores people coming out of poverty.
In this interview before the important G20 summit, the Prime Minister has in very clear words conveyed to world leaders that India was no longer a follower, but a leader of the world in various fields. In this context, he did not forget to mention how India not only successfully vaccinated its own people, but also shipped vaccines and medicine to 150 needy countries.
While mentioning India’s digital strides with UPI apps, he evocatively spoke of foreign delegates being amazed to see street vendors asking customers to pay through UPI or through QR codes. Here he goes on to emphasise India dominance in the world by talking of how other countries are keen on integration with UPI such that Indians are having the option of paying through UPI even outside India.
2024 On His Sights
But let’s also not forget that PM Modi left no stone unturned in trying to address the country’s huge electoral constituency with five state assembly elections later this year and the crucial Lok Sabha elections due in 2024.
He specifically listed the three groups who can take India’s growth story ahead: women, youth and farmers. While harping on his government’s efforts to help the poor and the needy, even in an interview on the eve of an important international event, the PM did not forget to mention the reduction of LPG prices on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan.
Clearly, this was an attempt to address the women constituency as voters. We all know how important the youth vote has been in BJP’s political expansion, nor can farmers be left out as displeasing them can affect BJP’s rural support base. In short, PM Modi touched everyone from his local constituency to his international audience in a very substantive interview.
Sanjay Kumar is a Professor at Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS). He is also a Political Analyst. Views are personal, and do not represent the stand of this publication.
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