How Gurmeet Ram Rahim verdict, violence affected PM Modi's Mann Ki Baat

Mann Ki Baat involves an intricate process of recording the PM's address to the nation

The Special CBI Court verdict on self-styled godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh — and the subsequent violence — on Friday hit the airwaves too: It is learnt the usual timeline for recording and editing of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s monthly radio broadcast, Mann Ki Baat, went for a toss after the court, in a late afternoon judgment, convicted Singh of rape in a 2002 case.
 
The PM, who was quick to condemn the widespread violence and arson in some parts of the country, wanted his 35th Mann Ki Baat — to be broadcast Sunday — to capture his thoughts on these incidents, leading to last-minute changes, a source in the government said.
 
An official in the media division of the government, however, denied there was any re-recording of the programme. “It’s standard procedure to record Mann Ki Baat around Friday noon, two days ahead of the Sunday 11 am broadcast,” he said.
 
This time, things would have been different. The court verdict came after 2:30 pm on Friday; its impact played out later in the evening.
 
Mann Ki Baat, which started soon after the National Democratic Alliance government took charge at the Centre in 2014, involves an intricate process of recording the PM’s address at his 7 Race Course Road (now Lok Kalyan Marg) residence, careful and long hours of editing at the All India Radio headquarters in the capital, and vetting by government authorities. The PM himself has posted messages on his Twitter handle, asking people to listen in to the programme, which attracts a large audience. Besides All India Radio, Doordarshan also airs it.
 
For this Sunday’s broadcast, citizens could send in their inputs between August 16 and 23 on what they wanted the PM to speak on. Several hundred responses have come in, touching upon anything from insolvency laws to goods and services tax and railway accidents to Aadhaar.
 
Anticipating the violence, many had already written through the week urging the PM to talk on the issue.
 
A 19-year-old listener wrote: “A religious leader charged for some heinous crimes has managed to bring two states and a Union Territory to a complete halt. Where is the modern democracy that you and I envisioned?’’