On 17 May, President of the Indian National Congress Rahul Gandhi spoke to Editor-in-Chief Raghav Bahl and Editorial Director Sanjay Pugalia of The Quint.
In the interview, Rahul Gandhi spoke about his potential strategy to deal with the mandate after results, the Congress’ flagship NYAY scheme, who the prime minister will be in a Congress-led government, and his party’s outlook on foreign policy.
‘Respite from Run-Off-The-Mill Interviews’
Soon after the interview, reactions started pouring in from viewers and journalists. Praising the questions and setting of the interview, Rahul Fernandes says it was refreshing to watch an election interview without printed prompts but in the dust and grime of the May summer.
A respite from the run-off-the-mill interviews, writes Prashant Pratap Singh.
Sharing his thoughts on the interview, Madhav Narayanan says that “a confident man recently trained to take on media grilling” is what we see in Rahul Gandhi’s answers.
“One of the best questions from real journalists...” writes Manickam Tagore.
“Saw a truly unscripted interview,” writes Harish Iyer, adding that Rahul Gandhi is a welcome change in a world that is self-obsessed.
‘Mature and Genuine Interview’
Twitter user @RuralIndia says that this is the best interview of Rahul Gandhi. “Doklam, AI, FoPo, economy he spoke clearly on all subjects,” @RuralIndia writes.
Aakash Dutt Sharma writes that this “mature and genuine” interview is “worth your time.”
The Quint is out there interviewing Rahul Gandhi just as a politician should be interviewed, writes Mansura Sayed.
Rahul Gandhi’s interview on The Quint is worth watching, says Hadif Nisar, who also says that he is not a Congress fan.
Rahuls’s Office Never Asked for Questions: Raghav Bahl
Clarifying that Rahul Gandhi’s office never asked for a list of questions, The Quint’s Editor-in-Chief, Raghav Bahl, tweeted that this was “quite unusual in today’s choreographed propaganda times!” The team did not even “bat an eyelid” when they were told that the interview would be live.
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