The other day I was at the Knowledge Series conducted by Divya Bhaskar where two journalists, Kundan Vyas of Janmabhoomi and Rajdeep Sardesai of IBN presented their views on Media Ethics especially in the light of Radia Gate.
For many years, I have been listening to such lectures and so it came as no surprise to me though many in the audience, consisting of Media related students and elders who have no work at home and a number of activists, enjoyed the talk.
What surprised me was the mood in the audience. As the interaction session started, one guy stood up to say how Narendra Modi is on a mission to sell the state to corporate illustrating how he demolished poor people to build Mahatma Mandir and other corporate structures. He was stopped in between by the organisers and asked to focus on the subject.
My sudden reaction was that the audience would support this move. I also thought the audience will behave the way they behave in all the podiums – drag out the question maker out of the hall and thrash him for having dared to question the lion of the state.
But to my surprise I found people in unison asking the organisers to let the man speak. Some of them even ridiculed the Gujarat CM on his so-called achievements and image makeover as a national leader and natural man to lead Gujarat. The voice got bigger and then people joined him to ask uncomfortable questions to the discomfort of my good friend Ajay Umat – the head of Divya Bhaskar editorial in Gujarat.
Is this an undercurrent happening all over the state? If yes, why is that this undercurrent is not shown during the polls results? BJP won all the elections held so far. I understand that almost all the audience that NM attends has manufactured audience. But this came as a surprise to me because the majority of the people sitting in the jam packed room at Rajpath Club were in their twenties – the so called brain washed people of the state.
Unfortunately for Gujarat and fortunately for BJP, Modi doesn’t have an alternative both within the party and outside the party.
For many years, I have been listening to such lectures and so it came as no surprise to me though many in the audience, consisting of Media related students and elders who have no work at home and a number of activists, enjoyed the talk.
What surprised me was the mood in the audience. As the interaction session started, one guy stood up to say how Narendra Modi is on a mission to sell the state to corporate illustrating how he demolished poor people to build Mahatma Mandir and other corporate structures. He was stopped in between by the organisers and asked to focus on the subject.
My sudden reaction was that the audience would support this move. I also thought the audience will behave the way they behave in all the podiums – drag out the question maker out of the hall and thrash him for having dared to question the lion of the state.
But to my surprise I found people in unison asking the organisers to let the man speak. Some of them even ridiculed the Gujarat CM on his so-called achievements and image makeover as a national leader and natural man to lead Gujarat. The voice got bigger and then people joined him to ask uncomfortable questions to the discomfort of my good friend Ajay Umat – the head of Divya Bhaskar editorial in Gujarat.
Is this an undercurrent happening all over the state? If yes, why is that this undercurrent is not shown during the polls results? BJP won all the elections held so far. I understand that almost all the audience that NM attends has manufactured audience. But this came as a surprise to me because the majority of the people sitting in the jam packed room at Rajpath Club were in their twenties – the so called brain washed people of the state.
Unfortunately for Gujarat and fortunately for BJP, Modi doesn’t have an alternative both within the party and outside the party.
