"You campaign in poetry, but govern in prose" goes a well-known saying by Mario Cumo, the New York politician.  In India, leaders campaign in talk mode, but they prefer to govern in silent mode.

For years, former prime minister Manmohan Singh was bitterly attacked for being too silent, a trait that eventually became a metaphor for his ineffective leadership. Many called his 10-year rule "a decade of official silence." But it was going to be vastly different with the new prime minister, Narendra Modi. During his four-month-long campaign this year, Modi spoke breathlessly on almost every national and local issue. He gave stump speeches, blogged, tweeted, Facebooked. India's youths had finally found in the 63-year old Modi a leader fit for a generation of over-sharers and hyper-communicators.

Now journalists, political pundits and opposition politicians have begun asking why Modi has gone silent. What happened to the promise of a leader who weighed in on every issue that consumed the nation?

"Narendra Modi brought with him the promise of a leader who will not be a mute spectator," the Headlines Today channel said last month. "Is silence going to be the norm when it comes to complex issues like crimes against women?" 

"Why has our current prime minister, who is a 24x7 communicator, suddenly fallen silent on matters that are making front-page news, have been headlined in the international press, and have worked the Twitterati up into a tizzy?" wrote Caravan magazine.

The Business Standard newspaper called it "Narendra Modi: Silent PM 2.0?" Modi was silent when Indian construction workers were kidnapped by Islamist militants in Iraq; when a young Muslim techie was killed by a Hindu mob angry over a derogatory Facebook post; when Hindu nationalist leader Praveen Togadia gave an open "warning" to Muslims this week to fall in line; he has been silent on price rise; and he has been especially silent on the spate of rape incidents being reported across India.

Instead, he gives long speeches on his vision for the nation — when he inaugurates a train line or attends the launch of a space rocket. Even as he encourages his colleagues in the government to open Twitter accounts to disseminate official news, he has put a gag on them. He has instructed them not to speak to reporters out of turn, to be wary of sting operations and not allow anyone into their offices with cellphones or cameras, or even pens.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/07/22/indias-modi-was-an-over-sharing-politician-now-hes-a-silent-prime-minister/

-> PM Modiji appears to be in over his head; may be the job is simply too much for him. He doesn't seem to have what it takes to be a leader in global arena either.

"These days, newsrooms are abuzz with stories of the Modi government’s gag order. Ministers have been asked to communicate as little as possible about matters that matter, and more on matters that do not matter. The prime minister himself is careful in selecting the subjects that he wants to comment on. Perhaps unsurprisingly, his selective choices mostly deal with non-controversial generalities or his own achievements. Sometimes they are even peevish. For instance, in his blog post on the completion of one month in office, Modi complained that his government did not have the luxury of a “honeymoon period” that previous governments enjoyed. He pointed to the resistance from “within” and “without” to the “positive change” his government was trying to bring. An odd charge to level, indeed, given the fact that by and large the media has been singing praises of Modi’s punctilious attention to detail (some of which could actually be interpreted as controlling his cabinet colleagues), his hard work and the long hours spent in office."

"So, when and where does Modi prefer silence to communication? Here are two telling examples that could be signifiers of deeper meaning. Not so long ago, two teenage girls were raped and hanged in Badaun, Uttar Pradesh. In Meghalaya, a woman’s head was blown off by insurgents after they raped her. Somewhere on the outskirts of Mumbai, a woman bus conductor was stripped by a male commuter. Modi did not tweet about these ghastly incidents. Nor did he have much to say after a mob led by the Hindu Rashtra Sena beat to death the 24-year-old Mohsin Sadiq Shaikh in Pune as he was on his way home."

http://www.caravanmagazine.in/vantage/narendra-modi-unsettling-silence

Deeds. Not words.  

Modi is sending the indian press and secular such intellectuals into a tizzy.

Why so much negativity? Is the desire to see him fail greater than the desire to see India do well?

nevada wrote:Why so much negativity? Is the desire to see him fail greater than the desire to see India do well?

Not negativity, assessment; let's wait and see if he can correct his missteps. I see this as constructive criticism, they were right on the money with their examples.

truthbetold wrote:Deeds. Not words.  

Modi is sending the indian press and secular such intellectuals into a tizzy.

Not words, really! Was there a bigger blabbermouth than him prior to elections? What actions did his government take on the issues raised in these articles?

confuzzled dude wrote:

truthbetold wrote:Deeds. Not words.  

Modi is sending the indian press and secular such intellectuals into a tizzy.

Not words, really! Was there a bigger blabbermouth than him prior to elections? What actions did his government take on the issues raised in these articles?

Better worry about your Shezada who is an expert in putting his foot in the mouth and acting a like a clown with bow and arrow - after a massive defeat....

Please get him a feeding bottle with similac - it is on clearance sale at Wal-mart.

Marathadi-Saamiyaar wrote:

confuzzled dude wrote:

truthbetold wrote:Deeds. Not words.  

Modi is sending the indian press and secular such intellectuals into a tizzy.

Not words, really! Was there a bigger blabbermouth than him prior to elections? What actions did his government take on the issues raised in these articles?

Better worry about your Shezada who is an expert in putting his foot in the mouth and acting a like a clown with bow and arrow - after a massive defeat....

Please get him a feeding bottle with similac - it is on clearance sale at Wal-mart.

 
But Modiji has the reins now. He is the face of India not Rahul. The onus is on him to lead from the front and assure every Indian citizen of good governance; going underground during crisis like an underworld don opens the door to criticism.

cd
What makes you think india needs anything different?
is it lack of scandals?
is it lack of demonstrations?
are you just bored?

truthbetold wrote:cd
What makes you think india needs anything different?
is it lack of scandals?
is it lack of demonstrations?
are you just bored?

Lack of leadership very concerning; one can't help but wonder if PM function is way over his head. It looks like number of rape incidents have more than doubled since BJP took over, one should be concerned over the law and order situation. The PM is totally MIA & appears to be worried about inane stuff like whether my ministers punching the timecard or not, hope he will step up to the PM role, from head gumasta of corner office role he is playing, soon.

confuzzled dude wrote:

truthbetold wrote:cd
What makes you think india needs anything different?
is it lack of scandals?
is it lack of demonstrations?
are you just bored?

Lack of leadership very concerning; one can't help but wonder if PM function is way over his head. It looks like number of rape incidents have more than doubled since BJP took over, one should be concerned over the law and order situation. The PM is totally MIA & appears to be worried about inane stuff like whether my ministers punching the timecard or not, hope he will step up to the PM role, from head gumasta of corner office role he is playing, soon.

That sounds so similar to what right wingers said about Obama in his first few months as President. Stock market tanked massively in the first 1-2 months of his Presidency. He was bashed as a no good politician who rode to power on a wave of social media self promotion and utterly clueless how to run the country.
If you do exactly what you would despise your opponents doing, does that make you one of them?

nevada wrote:

confuzzled dude wrote:

truthbetold wrote:cd
What makes you think india needs anything different?
is it lack of scandals?
is it lack of demonstrations?
are you just bored?

Lack of leadership very concerning; one can't help but wonder if PM function is way over his head. It looks like number of rape incidents have more than doubled since BJP took over, one should be concerned over the law and order situation. The PM is totally MIA & appears to be worried about inane stuff like whether my ministers punching the timecard or not, hope he will step up to the PM role, from head gumasta of corner office role he is playing, soon.

That sounds so similar to what right wingers said about Obama in his first few months as President. Stock market tanked massively in the first 1-2 months of his Presidency. He was bashed as a no good politician who rode to power on a wave of social media self promotion and utterly clueless how to run the country.
If you do exactly what you would despise your opponents doing, does that make you one of them?

Well, right wingers still do that, even after 6 years; The difference is I'm not bashing him of irrelevant stuff rather asking him to backup & act on the very issues he raised during campaign. Why can't he issue a statement or tweet on the atrocities committed on women or other pressing issues such price hike, when he finds plenty of time to toot his own horn.