Modi’s silence at press meet psychological defeat, says Raj Thackeray

Thackeray asked why Modi is “scared to face the media” and respond to the questions asked by journalists.

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Saturday slammed Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi for not taking questions from journalists at the only press conference he has held in his five-year term. Thackeray, who joined the Opposition parties to criticise Modi, said this is the PM’s “psychological defeat”.

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray (HT File)

On Friday, Modi, who appeared along with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah at the press conference in New Delhi, directed all questions to the latter. After the press conference, Thackeray tweeted: “Prime Minister’s Press Conference…Maun ki baat [Talk of silence].”

Addressing the media in Mumbai on Saturday, Thackeray asked why Modi is “scared to face the media” and respond to the questions asked by journalists. “If he cannot come before the media and answer questions on what he has done in the past five years, then this it is his first psychological defeat; another defeat is coming on [May] 23,” Thackeray said. He further questioned that if Shah was going to be the one addressing the media, then why did the PM even attend the media briefing. The MNS chief has been taking on Modi and Shah in the Lok Sabha campaign in Maharashtra. “What has he [Modi] done that he is scared to face the media? The dialogue in the past five years is unidirectional; he speaks and people listen. He doesn’t have time or courage to listen to people.”

SENA BACKS MODI

Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena on Saturday backed Modi. Sena leader Sanjay Raut said “it was Shah’s press conference and Modi was present there”. “It is not that he doesn’t answer questions. He has given interviews to TV and print media,” said Raut, adding Modi has expressed himself through various platforms. “Sometimes silence has a lot more power than speaking constantly,” he said.