NEW DELHI– India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, has been accused of beingafraid of the media, after consenting to a rare interview – just one of ahandful in four years as PM – on New Year’s Day in which he answered arange of questions that critics compared to “free-hit deliveries” incricket.
The interview, to news agency Asian News International (ANI), attractedwidespread comment and a fair amount of ridicule. Some journalists calledit “manufactured”, “scripted” and a “monologue”. The Congress party calledit “fixed”.
One MP said the questions put to Modi “were more in the nature of feedingrather than grilling the prime minister”. A cartoon showed Modiinterviewing himself.
The Indian media have been fretting about lack of access to Modi ever sincehe assumed office in 2014. He has not held a single press conference. Thehandful of interviews have been mostly set pieces in which the interviewerhas failed to put difficult questions or challenged Modi on his answers.
While Modi has never made any secret of his disdain for the press, othermembers of his Bharatiya Janata party have compounded the testyrelationship with the press by variously abusing journalists as“presstitutes”, “dalals” (pimps) or “bazaru” (for sale).
But the latest interview has attracted criticism beyond media circles withthe opposition leader, Rahul Gandhi, joining the fray. Gandhi questionedModi’s refusal to subject himself to random questioning, pointing out howhe, by contrast, is more accessible and willing to take difficult andimpromptu questions.
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Gandhi called the ANI interview staged, and the interviewer “pliable”. “He[Modi] does not have the guts to come and sit in front of you,” he said ata press conference.
In fact, some analysts believe that Modi gave the interview to ANIprecisely because he has been stung by recent criticism for failing to meetthe press. Former prime minister Manmohan Singh – who had been repeatedlyattacked by Modi for not meeting the press when Modi was in the opposition– remarked last month that, while he had been dubbed the silent PM by Modi,at least he had never been afraid of speaking to the press.
“I met the press regularly and on every foreign trip I undertook, I had apress conference on return,” said Singh.
