PM Modi Speaks to Media – The Press Conference That Wasn’t

Here’s the press conference with PM Modi that never took place. This is what should have been asked and said.

So, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a press conference on 26 April!

‘What? What? What? What? WHAT?’ 

The media’s collective response.

Lol. Just kidding. So, some sections of the media reported that PM Modi would hold a press conference, ie, the FIRST press conference ever in his five years as prime minister, on 26 April.

But that was quickly cleared up by the BJP who said, “No. There’s no presser scheduled either on Thursday or Friday, ie, 25 and 26 April.”

So, no press conference right? Ummmm no.

On 26 April, Narendra Modi’s Youtube page had an event scheduled for 12:30 pm titled ‘PM Modi's interaction with members of media in Varanasi.’

A media interaction? Is it a press conference? Is it a full-length interview? Is it an hour-long apolitical informal chat with Akshay Kumar about mangoes and social media?

PM Modi’s press conference/media interaction is the big story of the day. Or rather, the Big Story of the day is the press conference that never was. Listen to the podcast for the full, hilarious story.

So, for those who’d been waiting to hear the PM address the media and take tough questions, the short, two-minute bite to the media was, predictably, a letdown.

I mean, not too many leaders of nations have gone an entire tenure without a press conference. And apart from the ahem hard-hitting, tell-all interviews he’s given to Republic TV, Zee News, Times Now, ABP News and of course Akshay Kumar, Modiji has been noticeably averse to press interactions ever since he became the Prime Minister.

So, while we hope the PM will shake things up with a real press conference, as we wait, here are some questions we hope Narendra Modi would answer if he were ever to address a press conference as prime minister.

• An NSSO report stated that unemployment at 6.1% was at a 45-year high. What happened to the promise of 2 crore jobs?
• Media reports stated that the same NSSO data on unemployment was suppressed and not released. Why?
• Was demonetisation a failure because RBI reported that Rs 15.31 lakh crore or 99.3% of currency was returned?
• The govt is yet to provide an official count of terrorists killed in the Balakot air strikes. But BJP President Amit Shah has said that more than 250 were killed. What's the source of this info?
• What action have you taken against mob lynchings and some of your ministers, like Jayant Sinha, even garlanding men convicted of lynching?
• Why do you follow trolls on Twitter, like Nikhil Dadhich, who called Gauri Lankesh a b**ch?

Now before you go telling us that we’re being biased or, “Why you don’t ask Rahul Gandhi any question?” let’s clear something up.

Narendra Modi is the prime minister, not Rahul Gandhi, not Mayawati, and not anyone else. Which means that he must be asked tough questions because it’s important that the leader of the nation be answerable to its taxpaying citizens for the condition the country is in. And a press conference is a great way to do that.

And also, because every interview that Narendra Modi has given as Prime Minister has been…let’s just say…lacking.

For example, without taking specific names, here are some of the questions posed to the Prime Minister by the, ahem, journalists who interviewed him so far.

• “Modiji. You work for 20+ hours every day. You hardly sleep. Yet, we never see you tired. Where do you get so much energy from?”
• “Modiji. How’s the josh?”
• “Modiji. So much hua hai. Kitna kiya hai. Aur kya bacha hai?”
• “Modiji. Do you ever get upset that things aren’t happening with the same speed that you work? Like a bullet train?”
• “Modiji. Do you fast on Navratri?”

So…given the standard of questions posed to the prime minister, it’s easy to understand why the man holding a press conference is so important. Right?

Even the interview the PM gave to ANI’s Smita Prakash on 1 January 2019, while it had some pertinent questions, was sorely lacking in one thing. Follow-up questions. Let me explain. Once a question is asked, and an answer is given, there could be a counter-question to the answer.

That’a follow-up question. In the absence of following up a question with a counter-question, any answer that may be pre-scripted or prepared in advance is simply taken at face value, without cross-questioning.

But until PM Modi actually addresses a press conference, all of this is simply speculative. And with the 2019 elections currently underway, this next month could potentially be the last chance that PM Narendra Modi has to do this.