Both Modi and Priyanka Gandhi are now on TV—only one of them is asked follow-up questions

Almost all of Modi's TV interviews follow the same pattern: compliments, praise, and topics he has addressed in his rallies. No tricky or difficult questions are asked.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra being interviewd by India Today's Rajdeep Sardesai | Photo: @IndiaToday

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra sat down for her first television interview during this election season, last week, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave at least two more in the last few days. In fact, he’s had so many Q&As with television news channels that we have lost count. With the latest interviews on News X and News 24, he has now spoken to all the major Indian news channels in Hindi and English.

It is interesting that he has chosen to speak to TV news and bypass leading English newspapers. Wonder why…

If you compare the Priyanka and the PM interviews, you will see that there is an ocean between them: they have little in common besides their criticism of one another’s parties and that both speak fluent Hindi. Priyanka’s is more colloquial whereas Modi’s is more deliberate, studied.

What Priyanka won’t answer

Modi’s interactions are set pieces, Priyanka Gandhi’s chat with India Today’s Rajdeep Sardesai was free-wheeling.

One of the most significant differences is that there are no follow-up questions in any interview with the PM – even in the on-the-spot sessions he’s held with various news channels. The interviewer asks question after question without any reference to the PM’s replies. This has been a feature of the Modi interviews since 2013.

Sardesai’s session with Priyanka was a conversation – his questions may have been shared with her in advance but he constantly interrupted her with comments and questions and she responded in an easy-going manner. For example, when she claimed Modi’s government had done little by way of development work, Sardesai disagreed: he repeatedly pointed to the BJP’s schemes and thrust in infrastructure.

When he peppered the Congress’s “crowd puller” and star campaigner for the first 12 of the 50-odd minute interview, with questions about Rae Bareli and Amethi, constituencies considered to be Nehru-Gandhi family bastions, or her refusal to fight elections, she replied, “I will not give you the answer you want…”

Sardesai weaved this way and that, trying to corner her on why Rahul Gandhi had ‘run away’ from Amethi and whether she would stand for elections. At one stage, Priyanka asks him if they are going to speak about anything else. “Why are you making such a big thing of it?” she asks.

Formal vs free-wheeling

The Modi interviews are formal, Priyanka’s was easy-going: she interjected Sardesai with lines like “Arre chhodiye!” – something we would do in a day-to-day chit chat. She reveals some personal details – that she colours her hair, for instance. When Sardesai brought up “Lutyens’ Delhi” and Khan Market, she (disingenuously) claims that she isn’t part of the capital’s elite – and then added that she likes to visit Khan Market.

Modi keeps the media at a distance: even when he is asked personal questions such as the source of his “energy”, he says it’s because God has sent him to serve these people – not a hearty breakfast.

Partly, the images, projected by the two leaders, reflect their respective positions: Modi is very much a Prime Minister answering questions; Priyanka Gandhi is a politician without any formal post – she’s not even a Member of Parliament. Therefore, she can afford to be at ease, even frivolous, whereas Prime Minister Modi never forgets that he is the leader of “135 crore deshvasi”.

An NDTV 24×7 interview with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge was more official than the one with Priyanka Gandhi and Kharge’s replies were also formal.

The way anchors behave

Perhaps that explains another noticeable distinction between the interviews: The attitude of the TV anchors or correspondents.

With Modi, they are obsequious and flattering. And while Sardesai did compliment Priyanka Gandhi as the Opposition’s “crowd puller” and was unfailingly polite, he was not ingratiating himself into her good books.

In Modi’s case, it’s otherwise. On News X, the anchor says he is “proud” to introduce a “renowned rashtra sevak” and “PM of Amrit Kaal”. His first question to the PM is why Narendra Modi is the biggest issue in these elections for the Opposition; the next question referenced Modi’s claim that the Congress and the opposition wanted to redistribute people’s wealth—a claim missing from the Congress manifesto—and there’s a question on the Opposition suggesting that Muslims don’t get their due from Modi government’s welfare schemes. At the end of the interview, the News X and The Sunday Guardian editors marvel at Modi’s energy—“always on the move”—and describe his morning campaign meeting as “a shaandaar rally”.

Almost all of PM Modi’s TV interviews follow this pattern: compliments, praise, and topics he has addressed in his rallies. No tricky or difficult questions are asked. When the News 24 anchor said that the Opposition accuses him of ignoring the ‘real’ issues such as unemployment and the high cost of living and diverting attention with Hindu-Muslim comments, Modi gets ironical: he asks the anchor to “counter question” the Opposition. “Counter questions” are a no-no in Modi’s interviews.

Sardesai did ask Priyanka Gandhi uncomfortable questions about dynastic politics, the Congress’s poll losses and diminished political footprint, the perception of the party being ‘anti-Hindu’, its absence from the pran pratishtha ceremony in Ayodhya, Rahul Gandhi, and other subjects. She answered with aplomb.

In NDTV’s interview, Kharge faces some polite but tough questions: he is asked about Mamata Banerjee’s attitude to the INDIA coalition, Nitish Kumar’s departure—“will you take him back”— how Congress will finance its welfare promises, the defection of many leaders from the party, et cetera.

These contrasting interviews portray Priyanka Gandhi as a lively, happy-go-lucky, entitled person willing to share her personal background and tragedies to explain her politics. She projected a likeable but thoughtful politician – without too much gravitas. Modi, on the other hand, is grave, serious and gives long, detailed answers—some can last as long as 10 minutes—not always good TV.

Also, it’s surprising that for someone who is normally media-shy, he has been over exposed on TV during this Lok Sabha campaign.

Priyanka Gandhi should not be taken at face value: this was a good first media outing for her but you can tell there is a toughness behind the good-humoured exterior.

The author tweets @shailajabajpai. Views are personal.

(Edited by Prashant)