New Delhi: Leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley said that in response to controversy created by two recently published books, the Prime Minister Office has clarified that in the last 10 years, the Prime Minister had delivered over 1200 speeches. The PMO thought that this would counter the charge that the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh was not a “speaking” Prime Minister.
He further said that the Prime Minister is the key political executive of the country. He is the face of Indian democracy. His opinion shapes policy. He provides leadership. People look to him for solutions. A Prime Minister cannot be low key. He must arouse confidence of the people. He must appear conf
Jaitley said, a Prime Minister must be communicative. He must be heard with attention. He must be a leader and not just a reader. President Barrack Obama, on his visit to India, delivered several important speeches including one in the Central Hall of Parliament. During the presidential banquet in his honour, I had an opportunity to interact with the key draftsmen of his speeches. Each of his speeches were prepared by an expert and vetted by a group of officials and eventually by the President himself. Most of the speeches were read out from the teleprompter.
The teleprompter had a transparent screen. We, in the audience, thought it was an extempore speech. But the President was reading from the two teleprompters, even in the Central Hall of Parliament. The impact that his delivery and diction created was huge. In India, the Prime Minister’s read out speeches were not being heard by the people. They are no longer remembered or talked about. The PMO is right. Statistically, the Prime Minister was speaking, factually, he was not being heard. The Prime Minister walked on snow, but did not leave any footprints.
Post a Comment