‘Only 3% cases against politicians’: After Manipur, media and China, PM speaks on ED in latest interview

Days after he slammed his critics who “live in an echo chamber of alternate realities” while speaking to Newsweek, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has now hailed his government’s record on development and defended the action taken by central agencies against opposition leaders in an interview with Hindi daily Hindustan.

His comments in Newsweek had also pertained to foreign policy, including relations with China, and covered the boundary dispute with the neighbouring country. Unlike the three other interviews, the comments on China got wider coverage in the international press, with the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson telling the media that “China noted Prime Minister Modi’s remarks”.

The PM has been giving a series of interviews in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls. He first appeared on Tamil news channel Thanthi TV, then spoke to Assam daily Assam Tribune, subsequently to Newsweek, and now Hindustan Times’ sister publication.

“People of this country are taking note of the fact that India is the fifth largest and the fastest growing economy in the world. The third largest startup ecosystem of the world is in India. Our space missions, the ‘Make in India’ campaign, and the unprecedented speed of infrastructure development are topics of discussions all over the world. People have immensely benefited with rail, road and airport development works. We are way ahead of other countries in real time digital payment systems,” he told Shashi Shekhar for Hindustan.

The interview was the biggest story on the front page of the Hindustan Times, with a full page inside.

Hitting back at the opposition’s allegations that the government was misusing central agencies, Modi said that only 3 percent of the cases being probed by ED have people associated with politics. 

He said the BJP will win a historic third term and pointed out the fulfilment of promises such as the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and the opening of the Ram Temple.

In a conversation with Newsweek, which the magazine chose to publish with subjects instead of questions, Modi – under a section titled “On democracy and a free press” – had said that a “democracy like India is able to move ahead and function only because there is a vibrant feedback mechanism”. 

“We have around 1.5 lakh [150,000] registered media publications and hundreds of news channels. There are a few people in India and in the West who have lost [connection with] the people of India—their thought processes, feelings and aspirations. These people also tend to live in their own echo chamber of alternate realities. They conflate their own dissonance with the people with dubious claims of diminishing media freedom.”

Earlier, speaking to the Assam Tribune at his residence, PM Modi spoke about development in the Northeast, the Chinese threat, communication gap, and security challenges in the region. 

The PM, who faced criticism over his government’s alleged inaction in Manipur, also spoke about the situation in the state in response to a question.

“We believe that it is our collective responsibility to deal with the situation sensitively. I have already spoken about this in the Parliament. We’ve dedicated our best resources and administrative machinery to resolving the conflict. Because of the timely intervention of the Government of India and efforts made by the Government of Manipur, there has been a marked improvement in the situation of the state,” he said.

Notably, the PM had broken his silence on Manipur only after a viral video showing two women being paraded naked by a mob.