A conversation among journos Rajdeep Sardesai, M.G. Radhakrishnan and writer Paul Zacharia on the political scenario in the country almost splits the guts of the audience
They are up on stage to talk about a serious topic, one as serious as the election that changed India in 2014, one that Rajdeep Sardesai had written a book about. But when the journalist-author sits with writer Paul Zacharia and another veteran journo M.G. Radhakrishnan, the seriousness is broken by a series of statements that would make a hall full of audience laugh. These men knew the politicians so well that they could, in a split second, take a catchy headline off an odd day’s paper and tell 10 stories about it.
Like how Rajdeep would tell you about the first time he met Narendra Modi in 1990 and had not spotted ‘prime ministerial talent’ in him. After all these years, and after writing that book, he is still not ready to give the Prime Minister the benefit of doubt, he says, sitting on that stage at the VJT Hall in Thiruvananthapuram, where he has come to be part of the sixth Kovalam Literary Festival.
In Rajdeep’s words, Modi is a great communicator but has a small heart (taking a jibe at his ‘56-inch chest’ comment). “If you have a small heart, greatness will elude you,” he says.
M.G. Radhakrishnan introduces him as the man who does a ‘merciless dissection of every political leader’, where Modi comes across as a huge villain and Rahul Gandhi almost ‘a dud’ (only Sonia Gandhi seems to have got a softer treatment). He even calls Arvind Kejriwal a pretender.
How do these politicians react to his book, a concerned MGR asks.
“One good thing is that most politicians don’t read books,” Rajdeep says to another round of laughter. “But I got more criticism from the Congress than the BJP, saying I was very critical of Rahul Gandhi.”
Paul Zacharia then welcomes him to Kerala, one of the few states where you can still have beef. There’s laughter again. Why do not the communist party try to establish themselves in other states, there might be a man in Rajasthan who wants to vote for them, Zacharia asks.
Rajdeep tells him the other parties did not show political hunger like the BJP. One of the main reasons of Modi’s success was the leadership crisis on the other side. “Rahul Gandhi makes Narendra Modi look like a superman.” Needless to say, more laughs come.
Through his book, he observes that it is the circumstances around him that created an environment for a Narendra Modi-like PM to emerge. “There are three things that struck, about him: one, he wore his clothes without a crease in it; two, the way he controls the media; and three, his eyes, the fierce and fixed glare.”
Despite everything, he believes the Indian media will rediscover its voice, the questions have already begun.
