Press meet of PM

Press meet was organized and PM has spoken. We will have dissection by different minds. There was a clear selection of media houses, which were carefully selected. Even questions were carefully positioned.
There were some general questions. And even to such general question there was not specific answer.
Let me go through my impression of skeptic.
Ajtak asked some question on background of 2G. His answers were very vague. He told that he thought that thinks were going right way. Then he said that did not think somebody will do wrong. He told that he was not aware of intention. To the question that people informed him about the wrong which was going on, he said there were different opinions so he could not decide.
Asianet asked about corruption in judiciary. There was nothing from PM which is worth thinking over.
I am not aware who the next channel was. They asked that policies are not going forwards due to people in opposition, governing party and even government. It was in answer to this that PM did blunder. He told that parliament was stalled due to opposition. This will certainly be raised further by different quarters. What came later was bigger blunder. He said that BJP is opposing us because we have caught one minister in Gujarat. People of Bharat were not aware of it. Reaction to this will be eagerly looked forward. People did not know that it was a political war. Now it will be up to BJP to clarify it further.
Then was Sardesai from IBN asking about fate of JPC, to which he told that he is not afraid of appearing before panel. After this he reiterated that he himself offered to appear before JPC. When Mr. Sardesai insisted about JPC then he affirmed. In the next part in which he was asked if he wants to give up, apart from usual coalition excuse he said that he has unfinished agenda. That agenda was never made clear. If, what has appeared till now was part of agenda then we can imagine what is in store till now. It would be better to clarify which all were parts of agenda and which were not. This will make it clear what is the agenda.
Next was a correspondent from Al-Za-Jeera. Initially it was told that there are some international media invited so it became clear that what was meant by that. She asked opinion regarding recent Egypt revolution and changes. He responded that he welcomes wishes of people. It was most diplomatic answer but not touching the facts. I had hear that our government had conferred Nehru prize on Hosni Mubarak for good governance. So it would have been appropriate to accept that either people of Egypt are wrong or our government had gone wrong. But there was no word on that. The issue was not even elaborated beyond customary words, anything like the words of visionary which could befit a leader. It was of a silent observer, the usual nature of Dr. Man Mohan Singh.
Editor from DD who preferred to ask in Hindi and wanted to be more poetic and told a couplet, which went like this
गिरते वो है जो सीधे हो कर चलते हैं,
वो क्या जो घुटनों के बल रहते हैं|
These lines were potent with meaning but understanding could not be appreciated by PM. Lady went on to ask if there would be any action against the corrupt. And what did she expect the answer to be. PM responded in very general terms that corrupt will be punished. No modalities no more details. Is that what is expected from PM.
Then came ETV`s chance. They raised Telanagana issue. To that only thing PM could respond was that he is studying and consultations going on. There was nothing concrete.
Then came turn of a Kolkata media group. He started with mention of corruption price rise and finally he raised relation with left. PM chose not o talk about previous two topics and responded to the third which said that left is no more in coalition so there will not be any understanding with them. I wondered why such a question was asked from him as he is not at all in the position to take decisions.
Then came CNBC Awaz. They were concerned about financial and economic situation so they enquired about long term funds. This was the area where PM is expert and I am not aware of technicalities. PM talked of corporatization of debt market and something similar. Then there was talk of agricultural reform. It was reminded that he himself was involved it in when he was finance minister in PV Narsimha Rao`s ministry.. To that PM responded that there is some policy regarding marketing system but this falls with state government so they have to take action. As usual somebody else is responsible and he cannot do anything.
NDTV had chance and the editor, Mr. Roy told that PM is facing double incumbency from opposition and even from his own party, in case of election, and how does he plan to overcome it. In reply PM said that he has longtime to complete his term. Then Mr. Roy used a word which is often used for PM. He said how he wants to overcome the blame of being lame duck PM and government. He again said about coalition compulsions then he added that he will reshuffle his cabinet after budget session. That will be the sign of his power we still have to see how powerful he will be. We have to see how he will overcome two barriers. Will he be sacrificed to keep his party in power? Future will answer it.
The opportunity given to channel News 24 was wasted.
Then came another news channel, name of which I could not follow. He raised pertinent question of food inflation which is affecting poor. To this PM responded that there is PDS and MGNAREGA to take care of poor. So what does it mean inflation will not be controlled. We know how effect is PDS system and how much MGNAREGA is able to elevate the poor from poverty.
Then there was some North East channel. He told is there going to be time bound strategy for controlling ULFA or it will be open ended talk like NSCM. This was very pregnant with meaning but it was not realized and simply it was responded that government is talking.
Upendra Rai of Sahara News asked about abolishing discretionary quota. In reply to that PM could only tell that he was thinking. Thought it was not very hot in media it was indeed very important to bring out some long term probity in political sphere. There would not have been any visible opposition to such a measure for the fear of backlash by the people but even on such measure PM was not serious even on that. Even his words did not show any such intention. The editor also pointed out decrease in FDI to which PM told that the source of FDI, rich nations are in bad financial condition. So FDI flow has decreased. He said that for FDI there are two factors internal and external. Since external factors are not conducive he cannot do much. He forgot that he was not supposed to speak for the external factors but tell about the internal factor which is under his control but he did not elaborate
Editor of Star News asked about the moral responsibility of corruption to which PM said that there are coalition compromises. This is bound to raise questions. PM chose to shift the responsibility of corruption on coalition. That will raise further question like. Who is responsible the coalition partner or the relation itself if not the main party of coalition i.e. Congress. In the supplementary question it was asked if the position is as per his temperament. He said that it is learning experience. I wondered if position of PM is to give learning experience for which whole nation is laboratory and people its guinea pig.
Arnab Goswami of Times Now took up next. He asked about ISRO deal and enquired if there was any backroom deal. In response to that PM took help of written transcript. He read out. This happens when one does not want to do some mistake or when there is chance of doing mistake. PM read out dispassionately. Previous day I had got to know that there was lot of communication between PMO and ISRO officials. So PM was expecting this and had prepared well so to say that he was careful. For the back room talk he said that there was no back room talk. He did say that he discussed with US official but not with Germans. This left many question unanswered. What was meant by backroom talk in official parlance? Everyone is aware that there is lot of backroom talk which goes on. Just in answer to such question such detail will not be given. It appeared that PM was hiding more than revealing by reading out such written reasons. Mr Goswami wanted to ask about the statement of Mr Sibal`s logic of zero loss. To this there was interruption by the advisor of PM that it was not interrogation of PM. PM intervened and wanted to answer. He told that loss depend on reference. It indicated that everyone is right. He did not want to be seen as siding with Sibal but he did not want to be opposing him. This was only indication of him being politician. But this was the opportunity to prove him as statement but he rather chose to be identified as politician.
Sun TV editor enquired about the fisherman problem with Srilanka. To which he just said that he is talking.
BBC raised a issue which was related to UK. They asked why there should be aid to Bharat when UK itself is having difficult time. To this PM told that Bharat is still poor country and needs help but at the same time he reiterated that Bharat will not collapse if aid does not arrive. This will not be discussed much in national media but will be observed keenly in UK. There has been some discussion in UK to stop aids to Bharat who is growing at rate of 8% much despised by even UK and Bharat is also seen to be aiding African countries.
Last but punch line was delivered b the editor of Zee News. He asked series of question. They were very pertinent and should have been raised by other editors but looks like others failed to realize the potential among those questions. He asked why was this conference called which was not addressed till then. What did PM mean by dead serious about issues? What is progress on Lokpal bill? What is progress on black money? What is about state funding of election? And finally he asked would PM accept his mistake. PM who could answer one question till then could answer so many. He just responded that he is trying on black issue. And with that it ended.
There were some questions again about 2G from various editors. It was at this time PM did his biggest blunder. He told that those who are claiming there due to 2G policy there was some loss then he would like to say that government incurs even greater loss in various subsidy. And the loss which is shown by profit gained by the company is not loss but business model. He was referring to purchase of spectrum by few company and selling it at multifold price to others. He told that there are two ways of getting fund one is by borrowing and another is by selling stake and what company had done is justified. So in these two statements PM raised two issues which will be discussed in detail. One that is spectrum sale was comparable to subsidy and he was in support of the companies who sold stakes of their company.
It will be very interesting to know the response of different quarters to this.