PR is the name of the game, Mr CM

M. Gautham Machaiah

For the first time in the country, Karnataka has launched a platform called MobileOne which brings over 4,500 services at the fingertips of the citizens through their cellular phones.  Such a unique programme which ushers in transparency and checks corruption should have topped the news charts, but surprisingly the media has given it the cold shoulder.

The application is a boon to the people as it integrates all services under one platform besides enabling citizens to pay utility bills, taxes and also track the status of various services like driving licence. Had a service of such a magnitude been launched by the Centre or any other State it would have made national headlines and set the social media on fire, but the inauguration of MobileOne by President Pranab Mukherjee in Bangalore, was a tame affair.

There are several theories doing the rounds on why the media chose to sidetrack this novel project of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. One school of thought believes that the media is prejudiced against Siddaramaiah because he is not urbane, suave or savvy, having come from a shepherd’s family.

Says Lakki Lakshman, a staunch Kannadiga: “The English media thinks anything local does not sell.  When they lap up everything that a Hindi-speaking politician says why are they biased towards Kannada-speaking leaders?”

An industrialist and social worker from Siddaramaiah’s hometown Mysore, K.S. Gururaja adds: “Such a wonderful project was not highlighted by the media. The same media is keen on giving importance to some silly mistakes of the Chief Minister.” His views are seconded Bhargavi Hemmige, a Congress office-bearer and Arkalgud Manjunath, an All India Radio (AIR) professional, among others.

Sapna Naik, an assistant professor of journalism at Mysore University, feels such kind of sunshine stories receive no attention due to poor reporting and lack of publicity. “The Chief Minister should work on it,” she notes.  

B.P. Prashanth, a hardcore supporter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, blames this on communists in the media who he says had ignored a similar programme called ‘Sakaala’ launched by the previous BJP government in Karnataka. Bharati Singh, an entrepreneur from Bangalore adds that such programmes should be backed by a strong awareness drive.

Lal Cherian from Doha, Qatar, has a different take. In an obvious reference to BJP which has mastered the art of marketing, he says, “When it comes to public relations, Siddaramaiah has to learn the tricks of the trade from other parties.”

While one section blames the cosmopolitan media’s bias towards people of humble background like Siddaramaiah, journalists have a different tale to narrate.

D.P. Satish, a Senior Editor at CNN-IBN puts the blame squarely at the doors of the Chief Minister’s media adviser. “This egoistic person calls himself a Minister of State. With a media adviser like him, the Chief Minister gets what he deserves.”

Asha Krishnaswamy of Deccan Herald, a senior journalist with a standing over two decades, notes that scribes who sought information on MobileOne were constantly stonewalled by the e-governance department. Their curt reply was that the Chief Minister had instructed them not to share any information with the media.  Except for a press note, no information was released prior to the launch of the service, forget holding a media conference.  The government adopted a typical bureaucratic approach which in the end led to the poor media show.

Satish and Asha have a point. Siddaramaiah’s arrogant disposition towards journalists has never made him a darling of the media, unlike some of his predecessors like S.M. Krishna or Ramakrishna Hegde. Right from day one, the media has dubbed his government as inefficient and inept, while netizens have called him Nidreramaiah (one who constantly sleeps), lazy and worse, on social networking sites. Despite such bad press, neither the government nor the ruling Congress party has taken any corrective steps.

In the past, Siddaramaiah who was known to be a prudent finance minister under different Chief Ministers, had made a name for himself as a good administrator with a clean image. But the perception he carries now is that of an unproductive and laid back leader who is waiting for his term to get over.  

Today, marketing is the name of the game and unless Siddaramaiah draws inspiration from Prime Minister Modi who in the run-up to the general elections launched a publicity blitzkrieg making most of the traditional and new media, the Congress may be staring at a dismal performance when the State goes to polls in about three years from now.

Every student of communication learns a basic lesson in school: “Doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark. You know what you are doing, nobody else does.” That pretty much sums up Siddaramaiah’s public relations strategy.