Has PM Modi Lost His Midas Touch of Eloquence?
PM Modi cried during his address to the nation, the headlines when shared by reputed news houses on Facebook started getting laugh reactions from users rather than support and sympathy.
When the current Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi rose to fame and popularity at the back end of 2013 and the beginning of 2014, it was mainly attributed to his eloquence and his ability to yield the microphone in a way that he became a huge crowd puller. This was the reason that the “Ab Ki Baar Modi Sarkar” campaign saw the thumping success that it did.
After winning the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the immediate strategy of the Bhartiya Janata Party was to strengthen its PR and IT teams and with Amit Malviya as its head, the BJP IT Cell has pulled off some jaw-dropping campaigns in the past 8 years. However, even the PR and IT teams of the BJP were largely successful because of the popularity that PM Modi had garnered at the back of his oratory skills.
In recent times, the BJP has been under attack for being more or less absent from the scene as the country is battling a devastating second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The attack on the party has been so brutal that a missing FIR was filed against Home Minister Amit Shah by Nagesh Kariyappa, General Secretary of the National Students’ Union of India on the 12th of May 2021.
In an attempt to put these attacks on the BJP in general and the PM/HM in particular to rest, PM Modi appeared on Mann ki Baat, his monthly radio address. The Prime Minister hoped to work his mojo with the masses and while speaking about the selfless service that the frontline COVID workers have been providing the nation, a few tears rolled down his cheeks. With PM Modi getting emotional in front of the whole nation, the BJP must’ve expected support to pour in from all over the country, but to its utter disappointment, the move seems to have fallen flat.
The headlines when shared by reputed news houses on Facebook, started getting laugh reactions from users rather than support and sympathy. Here are a few statistics for a clearer picture;
- The Economic times
Total reactions 1.2k
😂Laugh reactions 741 (60%)
- The Lallantop
Total reactions 2.9k
😂Laugh reactions 837 (29%)
- Times of India
Total reactions 3.1k
😂Laugh reactions 2.2k (71%)
- India Today
Total reactions 531
😂Laugh reactions 329 (62%)
- Indiatimes
Total reactions 1.4k
😂Laugh reactions 1k (71.5%)
Twitter Reactions
On Twitter, things weren’t very different as well. When the official handle of Mann ki Baat Updates shared the video of the Prime Minister getting emotional, it was flooded with tweets expressing dissatisfaction. Here is a thread of few replies:
On top of all this, #crocodiletears and #oscars started trending on Twitter where the users of the micro-blogging website called it a Performance and bad acting at the same time.
The Digpu News Bottomline
The BJP has held power in India very strongly for the past 8 years and with its impressive PR and IT teams, its presence has been more than felt on social media. However, with the widespread death and devastation that has engulfed the country, the absence of the Prime Minister and Home Minister seems to have gotten etched into the minds of people.
It is said the public has a short memory span and forgets easily, but the cycle of death that the country has seen, we will have to wait and watch if pubic forgets or remembers the famous saying that;
Those also serve who stand and wait.
~ JOHN MILTON – Paradise Lostx
ai mauj-e-balā un ko bhī zarā do chaar thapeḌe halke se
kuchh log abhī tak sāhil se tūfāñ kā nazāra karte haiñ
~ MOIN AHSAN JAZBI
