Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s mediocre communication skills and the 2G spectrum allocation scam paved the way for PM Narendra Modi’s rise, said former CEO of Prasar Bharati Shashi Shekhar in an exclusive interview with ANI, adding that PM Modi has rewritten the rules of communication with the use of technology.
A technocrat and author of a book based on Prime Minister Modi’s monthly radio address ‘Mann Ki Baat’, Shashi Shekhar Vempati is a leader in the media and technology space. “Dr Manmohan Singh’s communication abilities were I mean very very mediocre let’s put it that way. He was not a public speaker. He was very uncomfortable. He didn’t inspire confidence so clearly that was also playing and then of course what happened with the 2G scam and the Radia tapes all of that I think added up to create the perfect set of conditions for PM Modi to rise”, Shekhar said.
Shekhar said that PM Modi plays the role not just of ‘Chief executor but also as Communicator in Chief’ which has been very effective in the administration process.
“I think you can see that in fact even in the book I mentioned this that Mr Modi plays that role not just as Chief executor but also as Communicator-in-Chief. I think it is two roles you have to play to lead the administration and you also have to communicate what you’re doing and I think it has been very effective at doing both of his roles”, he added.
The former CEO of Prasar Bharati said that PM Modi is India’s first Prime Minister as well as a politician to think digitally which is very important in today’s communication world.
“…when I talk about him being the Communicator-in-Chief there’s one aspect which is very distinctive. He’s perhaps India’s first not just the Prime Minister but also as a politician who thinks digital first. I think that’s very important in today’s communication world. It’s not just about you know broadcast or print you have to think digital first. Your first statement on any given incident is 140 characters on Twitter. Your first reaction to something is an image on Instagram or you know or a live stream on YouTube and so on so that digital-first I think is a very distinctive aspect about his communication…” Shekhar said.
Shekhar further highlighted how over-communication is sometimes the right thing to do in the digital era.
“…I think it has to do with the fact that in this digital era where attention spans are so small where there’s just so much of overload of information so many things that are crowding up your timelines, your WhatsApp groups and so on for you to get your message through you have to over-communicate in the hope that out of those 10 things that you would create maybe one will get noticed. I think that’s the reality we are seeing I mean forget politics… Even in the media business, I’ve run a media company as well and you see the analytics, the data, the attention span is so small. It is so hard. Unless you know it’s a phenomenally controversial subject you just can’t get the attention of the audience and the audience is fragmented across you know a wide variety of topics so that is perhaps the reason why it’s important to flood the audience because something will stick out, something will stand out. Also, I think there is an element of people also overreacting that they’re too sensitive to some of this communication…”, he added.
Shashi Shekhar is also a member of Team Modi and worked in the 2014 campaign for the general elections. Shekhar has also been CEO of national broadcaster Prasar Bharati and is credited with having brought a change in the working style of the national broadcaster
