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A year after Prime Minister Narendra Modi took oath of office following the most historic mandate in three decades, the government has launched an outreach blitzkrieg which, in terms of sheer size, could well dwarf the publicity machines of all the Bollywood releases combined in any given year.
Take these numbers: To celebrate the first year anniversary of the Modi sarkaar, central government ministers may hold as many as 30 press conferences in New Delhi and the state capitals. Arun Jaitley, Piyush Goyal, and Nitin Gadkari, among others, have already had their interactions with reporters covering their respective ministries, wherein they pitched their achievements and those of the government, as well as plans for the next year.
But that was merely the appetiser, here comes the main course. Apart from the ministers, the Bharatiya Janata Party has told its Parliamentarians that they should hold similar press conferences in their constituencies to highlight the government’s achievements. Such pressers could total more than 500.
Additionally, some reports say that as many as 4,000 public meetings and rallies are likely to be held to take the government’s initiatives to the voters.
While publicising your achievements is all well and good, one can’t help but be a little befuddled by the scale of the initiative. Why does the Prime Minister need such a big campaign, complete with its own slogan (Saal Ek, Shuruvaat Anek)? Why does the government need to enforce the list of its successes on the masses’ hearts and minds?
Is it lack of confidence, or is it collective self-obsession? If you go by the evidence, it needn’t be either. After all, the latest snap surveys by media outlets, the very publications and channels which right-wing supporters love to vilify, say this government is still popular, with some of these surveys showing Modi’s popularity as high as 66%.
This government seems to be definitely doing better than its predecessor if the lack of big corruption scandals (so far) and the amount of legislative work being done in both houses of Parliament is anything to go by. Why the publicity carpet-bombing then? Taken in context, it does seem jarring.
If anything, it may wean part of the middle class away from the government. Nobody likes a braggart, not in Indian society.
As my bureau chief pointed out over chai and pakodas at the Press Club (they serve refreshing tea, among other fine beverages), Modi should learn from the experiences of some of his colleagues who were part of the Vajpayee government. Then, as now, the Centre went for a publicity blitz on the eve of a crucial election . Titled ‘India Shining’, the initiative bombed spectacularly because of overkill. The current government should not repeat that mistake.
By all means celebrate your success. Have a couple of press conferences and hold a few rallies. But then get back to work, and let voters judge you on that basis.
(Arup Roychoudhury covers Economic Policy for Business Standard)
