Sending a message

Condolence messages were an element of the public communication emanating from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) even during the previous regime but they were sent sparingly and reserved for people of national eminence with whom most Indians could identify. Narendra Modi's PMO, on the other hand, seems to be taking condolence messaging to new heights. On Wednesday, two messages in quick succession on the deaths of Pran Kumar Sharma and Smita Talwalkar set people wondering just how much a prime minister should publicly condole. Sharma was a cartoonist and creator of a comic character. Talwalkar was an actor but little known outside the Marathi film industry and the PM's messages on her death raised some speculation whether the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections have something to do with this message.