It’s interesting to see that Narendra Modi had picked Raksha Bandhan to follow these women.
There’s clearly a method to the mania with Narendra Modi’s Twitter handle (@narendramodi) following 55 women on Raksha Bandhan Sunday. As many as 14 of the women are journalists, mostly from the world of TV, where they are both striking and visible. Another nine are from the world of sports – the ongoing Asian Games in Indonesia in which some of these women have won medals have clearly caught the PM’s attention.
Several of the remaining 32 women hail from states in which the BJP is pushing its agenda hard, like West Bengal and Odisha. Others are the usual suspects, the “I am a proud Hindu” and “hugely grateful to be followed by the PM” variety. And then there are the also-rans, grist to every mill, like chutney adding flavour to meals.
It’s interesting to see that Narendra Modi has picked Raksha Bandhan to follow these women. Some would say that this is a reiteration of the traditional north Indian custom in which brothers offer “protection” to their sisters. But most of the sportswomen he followed – except for Karman Kaur Thandi – haven’t even noticed that the PM is paying them any attention.
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It is the non-sportswomen who seem most thrilled by the fact that they are now part of the PM’s Twitter universe.
Make no mistake, Narendra Modi has been closely following the Indian squad since the Asian Games began. His enthusiasm for yoga is accompanied by his awareness that winning at sports reflects positively on the country and its leadership. Certainly, his travels abroad have shown Modi that the gold medal is not only a manifestation of skill and athleticism but also of power.
What better way to showcase young India than have medal-winning young sportswomen on top?
In fact, just like the Asian Games 2018 Twitter account, Modi began to follow Hima Das, after the super athlete from Assam who won the 400 m gold at the recent track and field at the IAAF U20 Championships. Most recently she won the silver at the Asian Games
So when squash player Dipika Pallikal Karthik lost to Nicol David in the semi-finals at the Asian Games, settling for a bronze, the PM commended her for a “great game.”
Ashwini Ponnappa, the doubles badminton player at the Asian Games –partnering with P.V. Sindhu at the women’s quarter-finals against Japan Monday – is definitely worth a second look :
When you love what you do, motivation automatically comes your way: @P9Ashwini@redbullindia ~ #GivesYouWings pic.twitter.com/aXO6LXDlpC
— The Bridge (@TheBridge_IN) 26 August 2018
There’s Joshna Chinappa, the bronze medalist in women’s singles squash at the Asiad. In 2014, Joshna and Dipika Pallikal had won the Commonwealth gold in women’s doubles badminton, the first ever for India in this sport.
“More laurels from squash! Well done @joshnachinappa for winning a Bronze Medal and enhancing India’s pride,” tweeted the PM.
More laurels from squash!
Well done @joshnachinappa for winning a Bronze Medal and enhancing India’s pride. Your winning the medal will motivate several youngsters across India to excel in squash. #AsianGames2018 pic.twitter.com/8y8v990chJ
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) 25 August 2018
There’s Ankita Raina too, also a bronze medalist in tennis singles, whose pinned tweet shows that she is the state icon for the 2017 Gujarat elections.
Proud to be the State Icon for voters participation in the upcoming Gujarat elections. @CEOGujarat @CollectorAhd #GujaratElections2017 #Vototsav #KaroVatThiVote https://t.co/wjeX0GpNSw
— Ankita Raina (@ankita_champ) 2 December 2017
And then there is pistol shooter Heena Sidhu, former world champion, who won the bronze at the 10 m air pistol event in the Asiad.
And of course the trio of women who broke the glass ceilings in their time – P.T. Usha, who missed an individual medal by one-hundredth of a second at the 1984 Olympics, Karnam Malleswari who won the bronze in weightlifting in the 2000 Sydney Olympics becoming the first Indian woman Olympic medalist, and Sania Mirza, India’s star tennis player.
As for the tribe of 14 women journalists followed by the PM on Raksha Bandhan, all – except for three, photographer Renuka Puri of The Indian Express, and freelancers Shalini Singh and Tavleen Singh Aroor – are from TV. As if, in these polarising times, newspaper women need more scrutiny before they can make the cut.
Also read: Here’s why Modi gets away with his gaffes, while Rahul Gandhi gets called Pappu
To be sure, Sheela Bhatt of NewsX, who has reported from Gujarat and Delhi for decades, once worked for the print media, as did Smita Mishra, now adviser to Prasar Bharati.
There are those whose channels openly bat for the BJP, like Times Now (Megha Prasad), Republic TV (Deepti Sachdeva) and Zee News (Rubika Liyaquat). There are those whose channels believe it is better to bend than crawl, like ABP News (Chitra Tripathi, Neha Pant, Romana Isar Khan), Aaj Tak (Sweta Singh) and India Today (Padmaja Joshi). And then there are those who have no option but to do as they’re told, like Doordarshan (Shreya Upadhyaya).
In an election year, it’s good to recognise journalists. Not sure if Raksha Bandhan is the only time the PM has left to do so.
For those of us who are not served a PDB for breakfast and still wish to stay well informed, no better source of information and analysis – alas, there is too little gossip nowadays – than journalists. A majority of the people whose tweets I read on the net are from the media. The more non aligned, the better.