Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his Norwegian counterpart, Jonas Gahr Støre, at a press conference after a meeting between India and the Nordic countries in Oslo on May 19. The press conference became memorable after a Norwegian journalist, Helle Lyng, shouted out to Modi, asking, “Prime Minister Modi, why don’t you take some questions from the freest press in the world?” | Photo Credit: STIAN LYSBERG SOLUM/AP

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is once again making headlines for his aloofness and inaccessibility to reporters following his recent visit to Norway. Throughout his three consecutive terms, he has set a dubious record of never holding an open press conference or taking direct, unfiltered questions from the press. What was once quietly brushed aside as an undemocratic practice has now become a point of pride among his supporters, who openly dismiss the need for press conferences for a leader with such widespread popularity and repeated electoral victories, conveniently forgetting that the same conditions applied to many Prime Ministers in the past as well.

Looking back at Modi’s career over the past two decades, it is hard to imagine how approachable he once was with journalists before rising to power. After joining the BJP from the RSS at the urging of Shankarsinh Vaghela, Modi cultivated warm, informal ties with reporters.

My friend, the hard-hitting journalist Prashant Dayal, was among those with whom he developed a close rapport. When Prashant and I worked together at the Gujarati weekly Abhiyan in 1995, Modi was well aware of our magazine’s deadlines. He would call Prashant, telling him, “You must have filed your story by now”, and then invite him to tag along on his visits to various places. Prashant recalled in an interview with this writer in April 2014 that Modi seemed like a normal person while sitting with him in the car, but the moment he was out to deliver a speech, he would lie through his teeth and make wild allegations (Saarthak Jalso-2, April 2014.)

When Modi was outmanoeuvred and pushed out of Gujarat politics by the then Chief Minister, Shankersinh Vaghela, he was made national secretary of the BJP. He used the opportunity to build strong ties with the national press. After the devastating Gujarat earthquake in 2001, he leveraged his rapport with local reporters to highlight Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel’s inadequate response. Using this narrative, he persuaded his mentor, L.K. Advani, that keeping Keshubhai in office would damage the party and that he himself was the right replacement.

But soon after becoming Chief Minister, Modi’s attitude towards the press changed dramatically. Open press conferences had been the norm, but he quickly drained them of any real openness. He grew hostile to probing questions and had the backing of many Gujarati journalists who embraced him as a Hindutva icon in the aftermath of the 2002 communal violence.

He introduced a strikingly undemocratic practice: if someone asked a tough question, he would dodge it. And if a persistent reporter pressed further, Modi would sharply rebuke him/her with, “What’s the circulation of your paper?” before adding, “With such a circulation, you’re allowed only one question.” The most disheartening part was the muted—or sometimes mocking—reaction of many Gujarati journalists, who would laugh at their colleagues instead of supporting them.

For reasons that had little to do with constitutional values or ideals, Gujarat Samachar, the State’s most influential Gujarati daily, remained hostile to Modi for years. In response, the State’s Information Department, one of Modi’s portfolios, launched a paper called Gujarat Satya Samachar in 2003, copying Gujarat Samachar’s masthead. It was filled with praise for the government and its launch was timed to coincide with the heavily publicised Vibrant Gujarat investment summit. (See article on Gujarat Satya Samachar in The Indian Express, October 16, 2003.)

Seeking tighter control over the press, Modi introduced a policy that barred police officers from sharing news directly with reporters. Instead, his Home Department ordered all police heads to submit information to the State police public relations officer by 5 pm; the PRO would then “scrutinise” it before releasing it to the media (See report in Divya Bhaskar, January 8, 2004.) Journalists erupted in protest, staging demonstrations outside the Secretariat in Gandhinagar and chanting slogans like “Modi teri Hitlershahi, nahi chalegi” (“Modi, your Hitler-like dictatorship won’t work”). Gujarat Samachar (January 9, 2004) ran a scathing four-column piece accusing the government of imposing an Emergency-like situation and demanding only praise from the press. The circular was eventually withdrawn.

In 2005, the Modi government invoked charges of violation of the Official Secrets Act on journalists of Gujarat Samachar, Sandesh and The Indian Express for publishing a story. The media fraternity protested in the once famous venue of protest in Ahmedabad, the iconic statue of Mahatma Gandhi on Ashram Road. (Protests are not allowed any more and a flyover passing just over the statue has largely diminished the importance of the place as a crossroad location.)

Modi wound up the long-held tradition of a daily bus ride from Rupalee Cinema, Ahmedabad to Gandhinagar for journalists arranged by the State Information Department. He curtailed and almost stopped the access of journalists to the Secretariat and ministers. He kept close watch on ministers meeting journalists. All the press conferences were conducted by him. The respective ministers would be there, but they would not utter a word until Modi arrived. Modi would quickly do his then version of “Man Ki Baat” and would leave without answering tough questions.

This was the real Gujarat Model of dealing with the press many worthies chose to ignore in 2014 and hailed Modi as some kind of a saviour with a grand vision. What followed is the longest stretch in independent India’s history without a single full-fledged press conference by an elected Prime Minister.

Urvish Kothari is a Gujarat-based writer, editor, and satirist. He edited A Plain, Blunt Man: The Essential Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (2023, Aleph).

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