PM Modi’s communication skills have been critical in the fight against COVID-19

New Delhi, Apr 24: Communication is key in these times and Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has got it right during his addresses to the nation.

The lockdown was extremely important to contain the spread of coronavirus and over the past few weeks another positive trend that we have noticed is the increasing consultation between the Centre and the states, says leading political scientist, Dr Sandeep Shastri.

He says that a clear indication for him was when the PM announced the second lockdown.

PM Modi created a situation in his dialogue where the CMs insisted that the lockdown has to be extended. This indicates that he gave an important role to the CMs to take this decision.

COVID-19 has seen the states and the Centre coming together. Delhi and Maharashtra, which have been the worst hit are ruled by non-BJP parties. While the lower ranking BJP cadres may have taken pot-shots, on the highest level the state and the Centre have been on the same page and have not let politics come into the picture.

PM Modi has great communication skills. As a result of this, he has managed to pass on a message to the people and this has been on display says, Dr Shastri. The speeches that he has made were skilfully crafted messages. Thanks to this, he has been appreciated by his critics as well. They were supportive of the PM and said that he needed to be backed.

A large chunk of the support for the PM comes from the middle class and upper-middle class. The appeal was largely for this segment of society and hence the response was positive.

The Central leadership also realises that there are economically disadvantaged people. For me what happened at Bandra is a reflection of that. A false news spreads and these persons found a ray of hope. It is now important to think of this as the lockdown enters the one month period. These segments and what the government is doing for them becomes important. The less privileged would be looking for tangible benefits.

The next two weeks are very critical. A month goes by and this segment of people will be without jobs or salaries. What the government does to reach out to them will be very critical, Dr Shastri explains.

The test of a leadership is seen at the time of a crisis. I also think in some ways in the days to come, the present leadership will be evaluated through the prism of how the situation has been handled.

In this context, we must discuss the Karnataka scenario as well. I do not think the state has come out trumps. One feature that has stood out have been the flip-flops. I think, it has a lot to do with the fact that the right political inputs have not been provided to the CM.

In Karnataka, what I have seen is both impatience and irritation. You sometimes see helplessness in the CM's response