Apropos the editorial "In need of a strategy" (April 21), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) does need a media-savvy advisor and a well-conceived media strategy to sharpen its image in the eyes of the objective as well as secular media. Both these things are unavoidable for a highly centralised form of government in which one person's success or failure affects the reputation of the entire government and the ruling party.
Moreover, the TRP-obsessed electronic media, which specialises in making a mountain out of a molehill, finds easy prey in the irresponsible utterances of members such as Sakshi Maharaj, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Giriraj Singh and Yogi Adityanath. The prime minister's delayed or indifferent response to such expressions adds fuel to the fire of criticism. Here, the remedy is to rein in the loudmouths in the party rather than the media.
Another major hurdle to the aura of the BJP is its association with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and other members of the Sangh Parivar. Many of their leaders refuse to grow, in their actions and communications, with the changing times. Their ill-timed manoeuvres take the sheen off the accomplishments of the government. Thus, personality changes in the human resource development ministry-led institutions occupy more media space than the reforms it is carrying out in the field of education.
On the other hand, it is also true that a section of the media that claims to be the watchdog of secularism looks at every achievement of the BJP-led government with scepticism and subjective evaluation. It highlights the shortcomings of the government more energetically, ignores the big picture and takes pleasure in running debates on the prime minister's dress and frequent foreign trips.
Y G Chouksey Pune
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