The foreign secretary did not have to look for a new job. No controversial statement was made on the possibility of seeking recourse to draconian powers like invoking an internal Emergency. No time limit for catching the guilty (like those who may have received bribes for influencing the Bofors gun deal) was set. Not even a new Pay Commission was announced.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s third national press conference on Monday (his first in the second term of the United Progressive Alliance government) was a tame affair. No big message came out of the 75-minute press conference, televised live by almost the entire electronic media. There were no major announcements. No fireworks either. You will get a better idea if you consider a sample of what all fireworks took place in the press conferences of a few of Manmohan Singh’s predecessors.
In his reply to the last question in his press conference, Rajiv Gandhi — a little perturbed by the tone of the question — had told the media that it should now wait for a new foreign secretary. The hint was obvious. Soon, the foreign secretary quit his job. Gandhi made headlines again by his controversial statement, showing no remorse or disinclination to seek recourse to declaring an internal Emergency if things went wrong at home. V P Singh tied himself to an impossible deadline for identifying and punishing the people who took bribes to influence the Bofors gun deal. He never achieved that goal. Manmohan Singh, too, made the grand announcement of setting up the Sixth Pay Commission to review the pay structures of government employees in 2006.
Yesterday, even the time chosen for the press conference was unusual. A prime minister’s national press conference is a big event, especially in the current era where the electronic media plays a disproportionately significant role. Holding the press conference at 10.30 a.m. was not a good idea as it was not the prime time for television viewing. Not even housewives watch television at that time, and business news channels are focused on the stock market trading at that time. An ideal time would have been either in the afternoon, after the markets stopped trading, or early evening at around 6.30 p.m. That would have certainly ensured more eyeballs.
There was another inherent disadvantage in a press conference held in the first half of the day. The opposition political parties can come back with their barbs and comments on what all the prime minister said. An early evening press conference, in contrast, lets the evening and night news bulletins stay with what the prime minister has said, instead of the channels focusing more on how the opposition leaders have reacted to the prime minister’s key policy statements. This is precisely what happened by Monday evening.
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Minutes before the PM walked into the plenary hall of Vigyan Bhavan at 10.30 a.m., the media representatives present there already had a copy of Manmohan Singh’s opening statement. Since mobile phone jammers were not operational for some unknown reasons, journalists were advised to honour the embargo on the release of the PM’s statement until the press conference started.
That was fine. What followed was unusual. The prime minister’s statement was taken as read. The government saved some time, but made a serious compromise with protocol and propriety. As finance minister, Manmohan Singh was known for making last-minute changes to his speeches in Parliament and even in official functions. Never has he got his statements taken as read. Even as prime minister, his statements, including those he made at his previous press conferences, were never taken as read. There is a lot that goes along with the stresses and nuances that a leader associates with the statement that he delivers. Manmohan Singh is no exception and not reading it out was an opportunity lost.
Cautious in his response to any controversial question, the prime minister refused to be drawn into any controversy. No sharp comments on the conduct of his ministerial colleagues on either airing their differences in public or remaining glued to their state politics instead of attending to their ministerial responsibilities. Yes, there were statements from him on his efforts at reducing the trust deficit in relations between India and Pakistan, his drive to bring peace to Jammu & Kashmir and his resolve to continue in the job entrusted with him even as he would like to make way for younger people if the Congress party so desired. All this, however, did not make anyone sit up as there was no new policy statement indicating a departure or a new direction.
The most telling commentary on the national press conference came from a foreign correspondent. From among the many foreign journalists eager to ask questions to the PM, only one foreign correspondent belonging to a Japanese publication was given that opportunity. The question, however, pertained to the journalist’s problem in obtaining an accreditation card from the Press Information Bureau which held him back for quite a long time from entering Vigyan Bhavan to attend the PM’s press conference!