The following article was written for Niti Central some time back. Pasting it here for reference.
The heartburn that Narendra Modi causes amongst the talking heads of the mainstream media never ceases to amaze. Whilst he remains focused on the job at hand, these talking heads remain equally focused on their untiring criticism of him. Their latest obsession is his "rescue act".
Sample these two snapshots from NDTV:
On the morning of June 24th:
By evening:
What is this "rescue act" of Modi that has riled up these talking heads? According to a Times of India report, in the 2 days that Modi was in Uttarakhand, a whopping 15,000 Gujaritis were transported back to home. The report that they were "rescued" - which riled up the talking heads. How can Modi rescue 15,000 people? Infact, how can Modi rescue people at all? No one made an attempt to find out the truth/lie in that report - it was decided by show of hands that the report was "planted".
And then the analysis started - Narendra Modi is politicising the tragedy. Why? Because according to many (sample 1 and 2), despite the erudite Home Minister of India asking for Chief Ministers not to do an aerial survey, Mr. Modi went ahead and did it! The Hindu seemed to be more upset at Mr. Modi's proactiveness in helping victims than the Congress party itself was!
Many leaders went on an aerial survey before and after that appeal (including ministers of other states). Many reporters went on sorties before and after that appeal. The saviour of the congress party, Mr. Rahul Gandhi is touring Uttarakhand right now - after that appeal - but the media turns a blind eye to everything.
Let's sample the NDTV report - according to them - Narendra Modi "swooshed" into Uttarakhand but the noble soul that is Rahul Gandhi merely arrived to "take stock of rescue efforts." Aww. NDTV doesn't stop with that - it also uses strong words to tell us this: "Before that, he stood by his mother, ...,as she flagged off a convoy of trucks carrying clothes, medicines, packaged food and candles to flood-ravaged Uttarakhand".
In English language, "He stood by his mother" has a much stronger connotation that "He stood beside his mother" - which is what he actually did. And what did he do "standing by" his mother?
They look happy as if they are flagging off an Olympic run or a motorcycle rally! After days of being absent from the country, presumably for his birthday celebrations, Rahul Gandhi finally makes an appearance and NDTV starts the celebrations! In any other country, the ruling party would have been hounded by the media to know the whereabouts of their Vice-President but not here.
Anyways, coming back to Narendra Modi's gory act of rescuing people and assisting Uttarakhand in times of it's crisis - not to be left far behind, we were told this:
Mr. Modi has done no more than other Chief Ministers such as Maharashtra’s Prithviraj Chavan or Tamil Nadu’s Jayalalithaa ...
And this:
Every state is doing that. NaMo is just seeking publicity using his PR!
So it took a "rescue act" by Narendra Modi for the talking heads to tell us that two other states are doing a commendable job too. Why couldn't they report these findings earlier? Why wait for Modi to turn up and rile them, to start praising other governments?
The image below is from largest circulated telugu newspaper in Andhra Pradesh - Eenadu.
The gist of the story roughly translates to "If Modi has the time to go and help, why does our CM not do the same?". The article talks about the pathetic response of the state government of AP and compares that with the response of Gujarat. All TV channels have had discussions on the cold treatment that AP government has been meting out to the victims, and most of them have mentioned the exemplary work of Modi.
Infact, even The Hindu mentions in one of their reports that the AP govt is thinking of "emulating Gujarat and Tamil Nadu" governments in bringing back its people! So Nikhil Wagle's "every state is doing" comment has sadly gone the drain (yet again!).
Today's Hindu also tell us that the TDP President, Mr. Chandrababu Naidu "did a Modi" and arranged for a chartered plane. He did this because the AP government was still thinking on how to transport people back! He tried to arrange for a medical camp at AP Bhavan in Delhi, but was refused permission. But since he is the opposition leader, he is obviously politicizing this issue by doing what the government is supposed to do. Such is the pitiful state of discourse by the Congress party..
So did Modi actually "rescue" 15,000 people in his 2 day visit?
First Post is owned by Network 18, the same that owns CNN-IBN. IBN's editor-in-chief enlightened us by saying that the original article in Times of India was a plant. Firstpost explains to us in detail how Modi co-ordinated various rescue efforts. Talk about Irony!
This rediff article also explains in detail the work done under the direct supervision of Modi. Both these portals are by no stretch of imagination, pro-Modi. They merely did their homework and informed the readers about the work done by Modi and his team. Something that the talking heads failed (wilfully?) to do.
The conclusion of the rediff article is worth reproducing here:
The figure of evacuation of 15,000 pilgrims in two days can be surely doubted, but Gujarat state team’s drive and talent to handle the disaster cannot be.
One visit and they start crying about "politicizing". Looks like in this country, the only politician who politicizes is Narendra Modi! One would have never imagined that the media would have a problem with even Modi helping out people in times of crisis - such is their hatred towards the man!
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