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Teachers' Day: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's masterclass in political communication

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There are two ways to interpret Narendra Modi's massive outreach programme with the youth of India on Teachers' day. Estimates suggest that 10 to 20 lakh students heard the Prime Minister live in a 'free wheeling' chat where Modi shared different nuggets of his life experience and his philosophy.

One way of seeing it is that Modi genuinely believed in bringing the focus back on teachers, a job often less fancied, especially at the school level. Another interpretation says that it was Modi's way of reaching out to the generation that will be first-time voters in 2019. While there is no easy way to judge if teaching will become a default career option for youngsters after listening to Narendra Modi's speech, the politician Modi definitely managed to effectively reach out to future voters. 

Narendra Modi's aversion to the media is well known. Even at the beginning of his Teachers' Day speech, Modi took a jibe at the media, narrating how television channels once sensationalised the fact that students cleaned a school in Gujarat. By using the state machinery to reach out to the youth, Modi has ensured that his message reaches the youth directly without any spin or angle imposed by the media. The entire Teachers' Day programme was well co-ordinated - a cursory look at the way students were selected also implied this. From Leh to Imphal, from Bastar to Kerala, every part of India was touched upon by the prime minister's PR drive. There were a couple of misses with the students in Leh staring around blankly when Modi questioned them about what he said when he was recently in Leh or his ill-worded climate change comment. But in general, the PM exuded the confidence of a man in charge. 

He also reaffirmed the faith of looking at a long term in office when he said that there will be no competition to him till 2024. By highlighting education for the girl child and linking it to his cleanliness drive, the PM asserted that he was more eager to get the basics right before going for big bang reforms. To solve the huge problem of unemployment, Modi indicated that vocational learning and skill development will be one of his major focuses. On the question of whether he is a tough headmaster or a friendly person, Modi minced no words to say that he is a task master and expects people to work hard, so that he can work harder. This can also be interpreted as a fair warning to any slackers in his cabinet. 

Further, by sharing funny anecdotes with the students and voicing one-liners like “work hard, play hard”, Modi tried to strike a chord with the youth. His body language was casual and he tried to break the perception of being a very serious person. This is an entire generation of youth that may be far removed from the 2002 Gujarat riots, which was supposed to be the darkest hour of Narendra Modi's political career. For them, his pitch is of an affable senior, eager to make Bharat work, for India to shine. He carefully advocated citizen partnership to solve all pestering problems in the country. It is a convenient loophole which he can use if things don't go according to plan.

Incidentally from 2008 in Gujarat, Modi had made his Teachers' Day speech compulsory for students to hear. The rest, as they say, is history. From Ahmedabad to New Delhi, the man has travelled a lot in stature and persona. But his political maneuvering continues to remain the same. Modi is looking for a long stint of a Congress mukt Bharat. This kind of mass outreach programme may well become the most effective tool to achieve it. 

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