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Playing solo while making grand announcements, Modi has developed a different style as he invariably switches off in unfavourable situations that signify trouble or failure.

In a democracy, power means responsibility. 

No, power isn’t merely an instrument of domination, or a licence to opt out of facing uncomfortable questions. But Prime Minister Narendra Modi, hailed for his communication skills both by supporters and critics, has demonstrated a tendency to fall silent in difficult circumstances.

Silence, which is virtuous, is probably the wrong word. 

Silence cannot be the word used to describe an escape from reality, at least in the political context. Over more than a decade, the nation has seen that the incumbent Prime Minister likes monologues. Aided by his teleprompter and unhindered by a devoted audience, Modi revels in hyperbole, stigmatising rivals with acerbic taunts and mesmerising fans with rhetorical flourish. He loves addressing election rallies, too. But electoral discourse is a small part of political communication. A true leader has to be in constant conversation with the nation and the world. He must lead from the front in crisis situations, even if he disappears from celebrations. 

But Modi has developed a different style as he invariably switches off in unfavourable situations that signify trouble or failure. The repercussions of this escapist model haven’t hurt him so far because the media stubbornly refused to critically analyse this obvious infirmity. But his inexplicable decision to stay away from the Rajya Sabha during the debate on Operation Sindoor last week shocked the nation. The Prime Minister avoiding such an important House proceeding despite being present on parliamentary premises is an oddity unseen in the last seven decades.

What gave away that his silence was born out of fear, or apprehensions, was his inability to answer specific questions about security lapses in Pahalgam, loss of fighter jets in conflict and the role of American President Donald Trump in enforcing the ceasefire a day before in the Lok Sabha. “Dum hai to bolo…” , the Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi posed his query in cinematic style, landing a hard punching at the ‘56-inch’ narrative.

Modi played solo while announcing demonetisation but disappeared from the scene as the disastrous experiment tortured the masses. He was the face of the government during the announcement of the Covid lockdown but went missing when the second wave mercilessly snuffed out lives across the country. People found him everywhere, giving diktats for thali-taali shows but he was nowhere to be seen when the crisis of oxygen cylinders crippled healthcare infrastructure. Lakhs of farmers sat on the outskirts of Delhi for 12 months, dying in extreme weather, but he didn’t choose to meet them. Can anybody imagine Jawaharlal Nehru or Indira Gandhi not walking into the protest sites for an impromptu emotional conversation? 

Modi didn’t muster the courage to name China, didn’t even allow a discussion in parliament, even as his bewildering “na-koi-ghusa-hai” line uttered in 2020 haunted his government. He never addressed the charges of crony capitalism. He would invite sportspersons after they would return with medals but remained cold and unresponsive when female wrestlers sat on protest against sexual exploitation by one of his MPs. Less said the better about the strife-torn Manipur. 

Smart Cities?

How many of you have seen 100 Smart Cities in India, cities that have undergone a dramatic makeover in the last decade? Not a hundred? Ten, two or even one? There is no tangible evidence of this ambitious project, hawked by Modi as a transformative mission, having transformed urban India. The Smart City Mission formally ended on March 31, 2025. The Ministry of Housing & Urban Development replied to a question in the Lok Sabha in this session that 8,063 projects at a cost of Rs 1,64,695 crore had been completed and there is no plan for a second phase. The government claimed 99% of the target has been achieved. 

That sounds surreal. Have Bhagalpur, Bihar Sharif, Muzaffarpur in Bihar become ‘smart’? Or Karnal, Ranchi and Satna been transformed? These were among the 100 selected cities in 2016. Be it Shivamogga in Karnataka, or Sagar in Madhya Pradesh, local residents wonder if their cities had really become ‘smart’. The mission promised overall development through retrofitting, redevelopment and greenfield development in 100 cities. Special Purpose Vehicles were created to design and implement programmes aimed at smart mobility, clean drinking water, sanitation, hygiene, smart governance, smart energy, environment and transport. But all we see on television is flooded Delhi, NOIDA and Gurugram, jammed Bengaluru and crammed Patna, cities which were considered developed in the past. With over 1.5 lakh crore gone, urban India is still crying for reconstruction and redevelopment.

Post-truth deception

You can deceive people without lying. 

That’s the essence of post-truth communication skills. Let’s understand this through a simple example. If the question is about the pathetic plight of media in India, the answer, without lying, can be that India has a vibrant media ecosystem and there are institutional safeguards. If you believe this is not possible in a vibrant democracy, think again.

Professor Manoj Jha, a Rajya Sabha member from the Rashtriya Janata Dal, asked a question of the Information & Broadcasting Minister: Whether the government has undertaken any review to assess the decline in India’s press freedom rankings and the reported rise in intimidation, legal harassment and violence against journalists in recent years; whether any steps have been taken to strengthen institutional mechanisms like the Press Council of India to protect press freedom from political interference; and the measures being planned to ensure that journalists can work without fear or pressure from government or political actors?

The answer to these questions, given by Dr L. Murugan, minister of state for I&B, was: “India has a vibrant press and media ecosystem, which does not need validation from foreign organisations. India has institutional guarantees like Article 19(1)(a) which protects freedom of speech and expression.” The reply also points out that Press Council of India is a statutory autonomous body which is headed by a retired Supreme Court judge. What else do we need in the name of media freedom? What else other than the constitutional guarantee? Questions about all imagined and real pressures and harassment by political and administrative authorities are taken care of. A couplet (by BekhudDehlavi) for the government: “

Jaaduhaiyatilismtumharizubanmein/ tum jhoothkahrahe the mujheaitbartha.”

Facts & falsehoods

The Election Commission has started a new business of checking facts. They call it #ECIFactCheck. And the first target obvious was Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi. MISLEADING – the commission declared, commenting on Rahul’s “Vote-Chori” charge. The fact-checking exercise only detailed the elaborate exercise – how many booth-level officers and polling officers were involved – and recalled that no complaints were received by the Congress then in Karnataka, the state from where Rahul says he discovered evidence of manipulation. How innocent! After this denial, the country is now obliged to accept that the election process is fair and sacrosanct.

It’s becoming a slapstick comedy now. The Election Commission is expected to be a neutral umpire, treating both the ruling party and the opposition as equals, do its best to address the concerns and constantly work towards a level-playing field. Even a kindergarten child knows that this fact-check gimmickry has no value. The commission should call all the opposition parties and deal with their concerns with utmost seriousness. After all, rigging elections is like stabbing democracy in the back. The commission cannot presume that people’s faith in its credentials is inviolable. In democracy, faith is nursed by credibility. And credibility comes from sincerity and accountability. 

Remember what Adolf Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf: “Faith must be unconditional. It cannot in any essential way be made dependent on arguments, proofs and reasons. Its content must be offered to the masses in the form of rigid dogmas.” Fortunately, India isn’t Nazi Germany.

‘Politic: An Uncensored Diary’ tracks the many goings-on in the corridors of power.

Sanjay K. Jha is a political commentator.

This article was originally published on The Wire.
Views in this article are author’s own and do not necessarily reflect CGS policy.