SPOKESPERSON (2014 ONWARDS)
SPOKESPERSON (2014 ONWARDS)
Spokesperson (2014 onwards)
Having begun his political journey right from 1969 as a member of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and walking all the way to become a Union Cabinet minister, Prakash Javadekar has come a long way. Due to his meticulous but easy approach towards any issue and the quality of coming up with practical solutions, he has also come to be referred to as a troubleshooter by many. But most importantly, having played a role as a political activist, a spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party and now the spokesperson of the Union government, handling media with ease has become his brand equity.
It is this vast experience of his that helped him understand even the minutest of the nitty – gritties of media management during the 2014 elections and subsequently as a member of the Council of Ministers. With Narendra Modiji adding a fresh breath of energy and leadership into the campaigning of 2014 elections, after having been given the responsibility of Campaign Chief in the Goa Conclave, the BJP Spokespersons soon adapted to the new energetic and innovative but disciplined environment.
Prakash Javadekar was instrumental in penetrating the same downwards to all the spokespersons. Innovative ways like audio bridges with spokespersons to keep everyone on the same page soon became extremely popular, and highly effective.
Similarly, as a member of the Council of Ministers who is in his second term as the Minister of Information and Broadcasting, he has always been very articulate and sauve in communicating the Government’s decisions and policies to the media and public at large in a very easy manner to understand.
Besides, his past experience as a Spokesperson and constant interaction with the media has also enabled him to design and implement a robust media environment within the country. While promoting the media freedom, he has also ensured that the fake news is acted upon and discouraged by various initiatives like the PIB Fact Check Unit, thus ultimately protecting the common man from its menace. This again highlights firm but people centric approach of the Narendra Modi led NDA Government.
As HRD minister, Prakash Javadekar ensured that the spin doctors do not have their way. He stood out for his composure in handling the media and went an extra mile to satiate the quest of journalists on any issue.
As an Environment Minister, his constant engagement and interactions with the Indian and International media helped in generating positive impact in the world arena in the run-up to the Paris Agreement about the lead role being played by India, under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modiji, by projecting the various Climate Action initiatives implemented by India.
It is because of such measures that Prakash Javadekar is widely adored amongst media personnel and public at large. People like humble Spokespersons with pleasant personalities having the ability to articulate and present even complex issues in an easy manner. And Prakash Javadekar possesses all these qualities, and hence, the popularity he enjoys is not surprising.
Prakash Javadekar, who rose through the ranks of member of the ABVP to the General Secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha and who subsequently handled the responsibility as Campaign Chief of the Maharashtra BJP. As such he had been interacting with the media in Maharashtra and Delhi regularly. His apt handling of media could not go unnoticed by the then Central leadership of BJP, who inducted him in Delhi Headquarters as a National spokesperson in 2005. Known for his team spirit, Javadekar helped some of the young spokespersons in articulating party positions before the media. As a veteran in the BJP now, budding spokespersons of the party always look forward to his guidance on important and ticklish issues.
As a BJP spokesperson, he made even the toughest of the issues easy to be understood by the journalists, but equally difficult to be answered by the Parties in power.. The period between the year 2009 and 2014 was the watershed moment for Prakash Javadekar as he spearheaded the BJP’s relentless attacks on the then Congress-led UPA government on corruption. Whether it was Bofors scam, coal scam, 2G scam, Scorpene deal scam, Augusta Westland chopper scam, farm loan scam, urea scam, Javadekar cornered the Manmohan Singh-led government. This helped the BJP to swing the public opinion against the Manmohan Singh government.
Similarly as a government spokesperson, he tackled every issue with ease during PM Narendra Modi-led NDA government in its first tenure between 2014 and 2019. A two-term Maharashtra Legislative Council member between 1990 and 2002 and now in his second term in the Rajya Sabha with Cabinet portfolios like Ministry Information and Broadcasting, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Ministry of Heavy Industries, Javadekar has been handling not only Indian media but foreign as well. He has also been proactive in responding to the misinformation campaign unleashed by a section of media from across the world against the government and has been rebutting them with correct facts. In this era of new media which has also created some space for itself, Javadekar has been articulating various government steps to check fake news among others.
Javadekar’s admirers credit his popularity as a spokesperson to his “charming personality and simple and straight articulation.”
