NEW DELHI — Once a month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India walks into a studio in his government building and sits behind a microphone. Modi then launches his radio show, for which he has recorded more than 100 episodes, with a customary greeting in Hindi: “My dear countrymen, hello!”
What follows—some 30 minutes with Modi acting as the on-air host of the world’s most populous nation—is a way in which he has become intimately omnipresent in the vastness of India, exerting a hold on the national imagination that seems impermeable. to criticism of how his government is eroding India’s democratic norms.
On the show, Modi is both teacher and friend, speaking directly to his listeners and certain callers. He offers advice on how to handle the stress of school exams, even as he reminds his audience that his academic background is as humble as theirs. He is a champion of water conservation while recognizing the challenges of rural life. His presence on the airwaves is crucial to understanding his control over India’s information landscape. At the heart of it is a makeover of Modi’s image that he flaunted in Washington recently when President Joseph R. Biden Jr. hosted him for a state visit, part of a red-carpet effort to court India as a rising economic power and a counterweight to China.
The radio programs, accompanied by text and video, project a personality disconnected from the revival of religious divisions and silence about sectarian violence that have marked his years in power. It is a more moderate Modi, which counters his more partisan rhetoric at rallies.
Off the airwaves, Modi has many avatars: yoga teacher, poet, wildlife photographer. But his role as an on-air announcer combines two of his greatest strengths. The first is his deep knowledge of India’s grassroots, developed over decades as a militant and evangelist for the Hindu right. The other is his populist mastery of storytelling, where he can communicate the popular programs of his government, from free rations to improved infrastructure.
Each broadcast of “Mann Ki Baat”, which translates as Talks from the Heart, is written for a nation on the rise, connecting the local with the national and global. The show associates Modi with every positive event, big or small, and every solution, tangible or spiritual.
Laxmi Narayan, 51, a farmer and listener on the show, said he was put off by the divisive politics of Modi’s party. But he did not assign the leader any blame, as he credited him for improvements like better roads and ration delivery. “I adore Modi,” he said. “He has done a good job for the farmers.”
By: Mujib Mashal
BBC-NEWS-SRC: http://www.nytsyn.com/subscribed/stories/6781539, IMPORTING DATE: 2023-06-28 22:40:07
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