In two days, we will reach for the sun — we already pocketed the moon last week. Chances are, when Aditya-L1 rises like a Neeraj Chopra javelin into the sky, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be alongside, beaming straight at us.
Just as he did on 23 August, when Vikram Lander parked itself on the moon. For now and forever, the PM will be the face that launched — and landed — the first ever successful descent on the far side of the moon. Close your eyes and you can picture him there right by Vikram’s side in video footage of the event.
Welcome to another day in the life of the greatest show on earth—the Modinama. And what a show it has been, my fellow citizens. He is here, there and everywhere.
Crucially, he is wherever there’s good news to be shared.
Also read: TV news landed on the moon before Chandrayaan-3 did. But at least it brought Indians together
The week that was with Modi…
In the last week, we’ve seen how it’s done in the media.
After Chandrayaan on 23 August, there was Modi’s BRICS summit meetings the next day where he played ‘vishwaguru’.
On Saturday, he owned the news cycle with a visit to the Indian Space Research Organisation’s headquarters in Bengaluru to congratulate Team Chandrayaan – he was all smiles and rousing speech.
On Monday, he was on our screens to distribute 51,000 employment letters.
And on Tuesday? Within minutes of Union Minister Anurag Thakur’s announcement that there would be a Rs 200 reduction in the price of gas cylinders, PM Modi’s image flashed across all news channels, repeatedly: ‘PM Modi’s gift,’ trilled the channels, ‘Modi’s gift to his sisters on rakhi’, said India TV, adding that this was evidence of the PM’s very special “connect” with women. “People understand they have been given a gift,” said a Republic Bharat anchor. Times Now saw more than benevolence in the ‘gift’: ‘Modi’s BJP hit poll gear’, it stated, Wednesday.
At which point, there was a commercial break — “Don’t go away, we will be right back…” — for Pradhan Mantri’s Jal Jeevan Yojana — where the Prime Minister fills every tap with water.
State government advertisements — Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh — too feature him prominently. Indeed, TV promos or newspaper advertisements for almost each yojana introduced by the Centre or BJP-ruled states are attributed to Modi — Jan Dhan Yojana and Ujjwala Yojana are the ones recently being promoted.
A two-page colour ad for B 20 summit 2023 has Modi as its mascot, the Madhya Pradesh’s ‘Vikas Parv’ ad for women’s empowerment saw Modi and Chauhan smiling at us from the front page of The Times of India —note, Modi is just that teeny-weeny bit larger than the MP CM in this paper ad.
Also read: Fed up with fake melodrama and hysterical news debates? Be thankful there’s still Doordarshan
…and an interview that wasn’t
Wednesday also saw the PM celebrate ‘Rakshabandhan’ with many school girls — and a ‘Muslim’ woman, Times Now told us.
That brings us to the G-20 summit. It is a little over a week away and not surprisingly, the news on TV and in the newspapers are full of the arrangements and goals of the meeting. Here too, the focus in on the Prime Minister.
There are promos with the PM speaking about Mahatma Gandhi’s vision inspiring India’s G 20 moment; there are features on the many G-20 meetings that have been held across the country during the last year; Republic TV showcased events, interspersed with the PM’s photos, set to lilting music.
There was also a rather strange piece of TV journalism about the meeting and the PM. Monday, India Today promoted an “exclusive” interview of the PM by Business Today on the global gathering. We were aflutter with excitement, hoping to see and hear Modi ji. He rarely gives media interviews and when he does it’s closer to the Lok Sabha elections, which, currently, are scheduled for next year.
So it was with great enthusiasm that we sat down in front of the TV at 8 pm to watch the interview. Alas; all that we saw of the PM was a photo gallery of him with the Business Today editors, all we heard was anchor Rahul Kanwal discuss the interaction with fellow editors and journalists. Hmmmn.
Also read: BJP women leaders get more upset over an imagined ‘flying kiss’ than Manipur or Nuh violence
What works for Modi
The list of Modi sightings would be endless so let’s not dwell on it. What’s interesting is the strategy to boost the PM’s image. Let’s single out three elements.
First, keep him in the news, in the public eye, on the move, active — watch him energetically climb the aeroplane stairs and how many events he attends on his foreign visits. Ensure he is identified with all things bright and beautiful. In other words, positive messaging only. The examples above tell you as much.
Next, attach his face, his words to every new scheme launched under the ‘Pradhan Mantri’ banner so that in the public imagination, Modi and PM are one and the same.
Last, keep him away from bad news. PM Modi has been criticised for his virtual silence on the ethnic violence in Manipur and his failure to visit the state. However, this is in keeping with his practice of ignoring communal incidents, riots, frightful criminal acts, etc. He remains above such events.
His negativity is reserved for attacks on the Opposition, particularly on the Congress. Then, he’s no holds barred, using everything to crush them. That’s when he speaks as a politician. As a leader of the government, he seeks to be a guru, leading his flock into ‘Amrit Kaal’.
Views are personal.
(Edited by Anurag Chaubey)