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PM Narendra Modi’s high-risk plan: My actions will talk
Message from the Prime Minister: I won’t talk, even if you guys keep talking about my not talking.
Naturally, therefore, pundits are puzzling over why the great communicator of Campaign 2013-2014 has turned into a grim Sphinx. This critique is half-wrong. To expect Prime Minister Narendra Modi to communicate even at half the intensity and frequency of Prime Ministerial Candidate Narendra Modi was unrealistic, even foolish.
Just because the media isn’t getting a regular supply of PM quotes doesn’t mean the PM is failing at communication. The job calls for relatively infrequent but weighty and tactically-timed interventions.
But the media is also half-right. There’s no good explanation, with 100 days of the new government coming up, why the PM should communicate only through formal speeches and bland tweets. This is a rambunctious democracy that delivered a remarkable verdict for a politician – therefore in terms of unwritten but well-understood rules of democratic engagement, that politician should have talked in the real sense of the term at least once by now.
When you combine this with the PM’s gag order on his ministers, the whole thing looks even odder.
So, what’s up? Are the PM and the BJP brass thinking that their private communications in a whatsapp group should suffice? Obviously not. And let’s never forget Narendra Modi is a very clever man and he wants more than one term and he wants to leave a mark.
Therefore, the reason he is not talking is not because he’s acquired some delusions or because RSS is keeping him jumping or because he’s new to the job – he’s not talking because he has a plan.
And that plan, it seems, is that he wants his actions to speak for him – as in, he wants voters and the media, strictly in that order, to see what Modi does and let that achievement substitute for Modi talk.
Let your actions speak for you is of course a noble intention. But it’s a homily that, if followed as rigorously as the PM seems intent on following, can be high-risk strategy in the world of modern governance.
There are two reasons why this high-risk, one has to do with substance, the other, with image.
In terms of substance, the lag between wanting to do something and getting it done, or even getting it started, can be long or frighteningly long in any major country, and most so in India. Also, good intentions can produce perverse consequences.
So, the let-my-action-speak-for-me strategy of a non-communicative PM risks getting wrong messages out because the action-to-result equation is always a troublesome, especially when you start a new term. This is because expectations are the peak when a term begins while results, inevitably, are far away. What will fill the vacuum? People’s patience? It never works that way.
Indeed, talking less, say, two years into the term makes more sense than talking less when you begin the term.
This leads us to the second reason why Modi’s non-communication strategy is high risk – it can start curdling his image. What’s Modi’s image? That he’s a doer. How does he keep burnishing that image? By doing stuff, obviously, but because, as we noted, it takes time to do things, he keeps the image intact by talking about doing things.
A modern democracy is a beast that needs periodic feeding of juicy morsels. The juiciest morsels come from the most powerful. If the most powerful chooses to starve the beast, the beast will react. Indeed, if the PM listens carefully, rumblings have started.
These rumblings will not subside even if makes a staggeringly dramatic and substantive Independence Day Speech. That will suffice for a few days, sure. But the beast will still need periodic feeding. After all, the PM gave a fine parliament speech after the President’s address. But that worked for only so long.
Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi, elected with an impressive mandate by a voluble, impatient democracy that bought his image as a man who gets things done, risks blurring that image if he decides that Modi action is a permanent substitute for Modi words.
Message to the Prime Minister: Sir, start talking now and then, because all this talk about your not talking can be worse for you than you may think.
~ Saubhik Chakrabarti
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Canadian News
Joint statement from the Greater Toronto Area & Hamilton Mayors and Chairs
We are united in fighting COVID-19 – protecting our residents and saving lives.
While the measures we have taken to stop the spread of the virus have made a difference, this virus has still taken far too many lives in our communities and continues to threaten the lives of our residents.
At the same time, there is no denying the devastating impact of COVID-19 on the economy. Jobs have been lost, many businesses have closed or are at risk of closure, and many families are worried about their financial future.
We’ve been hit hard but that’s why it is so important that we keep moving forward and come back as strong as possible.
Today, the GTHA Mayors and Chairs met to discuss the impacts of COVID-19 on the region and how our municipalities can work together on the economic restart and recovery.
We know the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area alone is projected to lose 355,000 jobs and 28% of GDP along with $894 million in lost wages and $3.7 billion in revenue losses for businesses. This will be felt right across the GTHA but it also threatens the provincial and national economies.
A strong recovery right here in the GTHA is crucial to healing the economic damage done by COVID-19 and helping the families and businesses all governments have been working to protect throughout this emergency.
Ontario’s economy and Canada’s economy need the GTHA to come back stronger than ever when the restart begins.
We are determined to deliver this recovery and we agreed today that the GTHA municipalities will be working together to successfully and smoothly reopen our vital regional economy when the time comes.
We also discussed how we can in a consistent way achieve significant, necessary financial support from the other governments to help mitigate the impact of COVID-19 and protect our ability to contribute to the recovery. A strong recovery needs strong cities and regional governments.
We have agreed we will work together to share information about our respective financial positions and explore together measures we can advocate to the other governments which will help to ensure the financial stability of local and regional governments in the GTHA.
Our child care and recreation programs help parents get back to work.
Our emergency services keep people safe.
Our transit systems get people to work and home safely.
Our major infrastructure projects – often built in conjunction with the other governments – will help kick-start the recovery and create countless jobs.
Our economic development activities attract jobs and investment.
We built a strong and vibrant GTHA and we know that we will need to come back even stronger and as quickly as we can in order to keep Canada’s economy going.
With the cooperation and support of the provincial and federal governments, we are ready to rise to this challenge.”
Canadian News
Four People Charged in Mississauga Pedestrian Fail to Remain Fatality
Investigators from the Major Collision Bureau have charged four people in Mississauga’s most recent fatal fail to remain collision.
On Thursday, February 15, 2018, at approximately 8:40 p.m., the victim, a 61 year-old female from Mississauga, was struck by a south bound vehicle as she was crossing Mavis Road in the area of Knotty Pine Grove in the City of Mississauga. The vehicle did not remain and the victim, having suffered major injuries, was pronounced dead at the scene.
On Saturday, February 17, 2018 shortly before 7:00 p.m., Satchithanantha VAITHILINGAM, a 60 year-old male from Brampton, and the driver believed to be responsible in this incident, surrendered to police at 22 Division. Satchithanantha VAITHILINGAM has since been charged with Fail to Remain Cause Death.
Hivissa SATCHITHANANTHAN, a 25 year old female from Brampton, Shajeetha SATCHITHANANTHAN a 28 year-old female from Brampton and Gowtham SATKUNARAJAH a 28 year-old male from Brampton have each been charged with Accessory After the Fact in relation to this incident.
Satchithanantha VAITHILINGAM will answer to his charge on March 12, 2018. Hivissa SATCHITHANANTHAN, Shajeetha SATCHITHANANTHAN andGowtham SATKUNARAJAH will answer to their charges on Monday March 26, 2018 at the Ontario Court of Justice in Brampton
Anyone who may have witnessed the collision, have dashboard video footage of the incident or who may have any information regarding this incident is asked to contact investigators with the Major Collision Bureau at (905) 453-2121, ext. 3710. Information may also be left anonymously by calling Peel Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), or by visiting www.peelcrimestoppers.ca or by sending a text message to CRIMES (274637) with the word ‘PEEL’ and then your tip.
Canadian News
Justin Trudeau in India: Hug missing! Mounting pressure?
The much publicized and anticipated visit of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to India was marred with questions. The questions were centered on the kind of welcome he would be given in the Sikh dominated state of Punjab. Also the famous hug by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was being anticipated. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau finally made his much-touted visit to India. He landed on the Indira Gandhi Airport, New Delhi only to be received by Gajendra Singh Shekhawat not even a Cabinet Minister in Narendra Modi’s government.
He is presently the second rank Minister of State for Agriculture. That comes in complete contrast to the warmth that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his NDA government has generally displayed towards the visiting dignitaries. Only a couple of weeks ago, when the heads of the 10 ASEAN states arrived in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi didn’t receive Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the airport, as he has previously done with many leaders including Barack Obama, Xi Jinping, Shinzo Abe, and Benjamin Netanyahu.
The fact that Prime Minister Narendra Modi didn’t join him is all surprising even when Prime Minister Trudeau visited Gujarat. This is unusual because the Indian Prime Minister has set a trend that he always accompanies head of the state when they visit his home state.
Even Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath did not show up, let alone accompany Prime Minister Trudeau to the Taj. However, during Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s 15 January visit to the Taj Mahal at Agra, Yogi Adityanath had received Netanyahu and his wife and shown them around as well as hosted a lunch for them. For first three days, none from the executive or the elected representative held any meeting with the delegation.
Media in India is trying to spread a message that the cold treatment given by Prime Minister could be because two of the four Sikh members of Trudeau’s cabinet – Harjit Sajjan and Amarjeet Sohi – support the Khalistan movement. However, had that been the case his visit to Punjab would have got a similar response. However, the Punjab Government led by Captain Amarinder Singh rolled out a red carpet during his stay at Amritsar and even the two leaders held some fruitful discussions.
Thus putting an end to those criticisms that that Prime Minister Trudeau’s visit was devoid of any warmth. Chief Minister of Punjab Amarinder Singh, for instance who met Prime Minister Justin Trudeau setting aside his earlier prejudice that he exhibited during the visit of Defence Minister Harjeet Singh Sajjan.
In recent months, Gurudwaras (Sikh temples) in Canada, the United States and Australia have banned Indian officials from visiting gurudwaras and the moment started with Gurudwaras here in Toronto. Could that be the reason for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to not accord one of the warmest welcomes that he is known to provide? Or the use by Canada’s parliament of the term genocide to describe mass killings of Sikhs in India in 1984 has left the Indian Prime Minister disturbed? However, more than Prime Minister Modi, this could have left the Congress party in troubled waters, but that was also not the case as Amarinder Singh hails from the same party.
The lukewarm welcome to Prime Minister Trudeau can have its political ramifications too. Will it hamper the significant 2015 deal, in which Canada agreed to supply 3,000 metric tons of Uranium to power India’s atomic reactors?
Somewhere Prime Minister Modi has not taken the issue of non allowing entry of Indian officials to Gurudwaras and the statement on Genocide too lightly. Prime Minister Modi however has failed to understand that Canada cannot curtail the right of freedom of speech and expression of its citizen.
Two nations perhaps failed to resolve the matter before Prime Minister boarded the flight from Canada and not welcoming Prime Minister Trudeau could be a tactical decision to put pressure on him. With Prime Minister Modi preferring to meet him at the far end of the tour has conveyed a lot about the myopic approach of Prime Minister Modi.
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