Too Many ‘Charchas’ Under Modi But No Real Debate

‘Pariksha Pe Charcha 2025 is here. Register now for the most awaited programme to conquer exam stress,’ a private school urged students in a video posted on Instagram.

'Registrations open… Don’t miss this exciting opportunity,' prodded a publisher of books for schools, colleges and entrance exams.

Who said government agencies are drab? A PIB announcement about the annual event at which Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses students described it as: ‘Empowering students, transforming lives.’

Another declared: ‘You cannot miss this opportunity.’ In Geneva, India’s permanent mission joined the buildup, advertising the programme as the ‘interaction every student in India is waiting for’. And a MyGovIndia post declared that a ‘record-breaking’ 5 crore people had registered, of whom 3.56 crore were students.

Modi’s homilies had been losing their novelty over the years, so new features and new faces were added to Pariksha Pe Charcha 2025. Besides the usual choreographed interaction of the Prime Minister with the students, there were sessions hosted by celebrities, including Deepika Padukone and the English-speaking Jaggi Vasudev. The show was telecast on multiple platforms, including DD, Swayam, Swayam Prabha, and the PMO’s YouTube channel and social media platforms. District level quiz competitions were held and certificates given to winners.

In all, 38 students were chosen to ask questions at the event. On December 26, 2024, the media helpfully published 10 ‘insightful’ questions the students ‘could’ ask Modi. Filo, claiming to be the ‘world’s only instant tutoring platform’, also discussed 10 questions with appropriate answers.

In the pre-recorded event, which was broadcast on February 10, Modi was seen first distributing tilgud laddus to the selected students and giving tips on healthy eating and how that affected examinations. The prime minister then meditated with them in the warm sunshine at Sunder Nagar Nursery, before giving the students advice on how they could avoid stress and prepare for exams.

Modi’s own academic qualifications have been at the centre of controversy, with Delhi University challenging in the high court a Central Information Commission order directing it to make the prime minister’s graduation degree public.

Charcha is the Hindi word for an informal discussion where people express different opinions. But the 21st century’s spin dictators have their own dictionary and grammar. For Modi, a charcha is a sermon by himself or his chosen few, essentially a monologue that the attendees are expected to follow without questioning. There is little space for debate or discussion.

It started with Chai Pe Charcha in 2014 at an Ahmedabad restaurant. The leader liked the term, so every meeting of his began to be called chai pe charcha. When Modi met housing scheme beneficiaries in Bhubaneswar, it was termed chai pe charcha. His speech on international women’s day was also chai pe charcha. Inspired, the Friends of the BJP in Germany held their own chai pe charcha. So did Modi’s admirers in the US. During his India visit, President Barack Obama too referred to Modi’s chai pe charcha.

Then came lunch pe charcha, with the leader asking BJP MPs to hold meetings over meals in every assembly constituency to talk about the 2018-19 Union budget. Last year, Modi had a lunch pe charcha with some friendly MPs at the Parliament House canteen.

Next, Adityanath asked his legislators to hold tiffin pe charcha.

Restaurants, eateries and hotels picked the tag lines ‘chai pe charcha’, ‘lunch pe charcha’ and ‘thaal pe charcha’ to use these for publicity. Some even named themselves Chai Pe Charcha. Other businesses used the Modi name for smarter marketing. Modi Realty, for instance, put out an ‘exclusive invite for chai pe charcha’. A financial daily carried a paywalled piece on ‘chai pe charcha’. Some podcasts and blogs used 'thaal pe charcha' to discuss serious social issues.

For Modi, as with other strong men in power, debate and discussion are anathema. A gifted orator, he dislikes adverse reactions from his listeners. Unlike earlier prime ministers, he does not address press conferences. Modi has also avoided policy discussions within the government, his own party bodies or with the NDA allies. He draws up programmes with inputs from his personal aides and marketing experts, and presents these at meetings of the party and government, asking his followers to endorse the same.

In this model, the party workers’ kartavya (duty) is to follow, not to question or debate. The aversion for debate and scrutiny is manifest everywhere. Modi’s has been the shortest Lok Sabha since 1952 with the lowest number of sittings. During Vajpayee’s tenure, there were 59 short discussions; in Modi’s second term, there were just six. Modi himself was present in the Lok Sabha in 2021 for just four hours. In the 2023 winter session, no bills were referred to panels. The last Lok Sabha was without a deputy speaker, and had the distinction of having witnessed the largest number of suspensions of members.

Parliamentary panels, a forum for multi-partisan consensus, have been turned into a politically divided forum with the ruling party rejecting all proposals from the other side. The division is so sharp that no honest discussion is possible in the PAC, select panels, standing committees and the business advisory committee. Presiding officers of the two Houses have never before been as explicitly partisan.

All former Prime Ministers encouraged back-channel dialogue to resolve emerging political standoffs, and each of them had their own Jaswant Singhs and Murli Deoras to interact with rival parties. Such informal dialogue would often lead to compromise resolutions. When Parliament is in session, the Central Hall becomes the scene of such informal talks. But Modi, whose essential political tools are confrontation, hatred, coercion, raid threats, prosecution and jail, has never liked such informal contact.

Consider how Modi has violated the pattern followed by his own party senior, Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The latter had held at least 20 recorded meetings with the Opposition during the three years between 2001 and 2004. He would talk to the Opposition leaders directly, and not through an Amit Shah or a J.P. Nadda. For instance, Vajpayee spoke to Sonia Gandhi to get unanimous resolutions passed on the Gujarat riots and the US invasion of Iraq. At a meeting of the Indian community in New York on September 25, 2003, he showered praise on Sonia Gandhi. On December 31, 2001, he invited Sonia to head India’s official delegation to Saarc, an offer she politely declined.

Can you expect such political sagacity from Modi and Shah? For the record, Vajpayee held all-party meetings on the following dates: November 9, 2001; December 31 and January 14, 2002; March 25, 26 and 27, May 7, 16 and 17 in 2003; April 7 and 9, 2004.

Before Modi took control, the BJP boasted that it was a ‘party with a difference’. While the Congress and regional parties were sticking to the appointments culture, BJP did hold organisational elections where there were token contests at the state level. At the Centre, it had consensus nominees, of course with RSS approval.

During Vajpayee’s term as Prime Minister, there were 11 meetings of the BJP’s National Executive Committee between December 1999 and January 2004 – which translates to three a year: on December 30, 1999; August 18 and October 2, 2000; January 17, 2001; March 25, 2001; August 28, 2002; April 14, 2002; December 24, 2003; April 5, 2003; July 19, 2004 and January 12, 2004. The BJP parliamentary party and general body meetings would be a forum where MPs openly talked about government policies. Criticism was so sharp that Vajpayee once resigned as Prime Minister, but was later persuaded to withdraw his letter. And we in the media reported freely. After Modi became the Prime Minister, general body meetings became scarce. Even when these are called, the only agenda is Modi's speech and few would now expect BJP MPs to air their views.

P. Raman is a veteran journalist and political commentator.

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