Prakash Javadekar had turned the Indian media subservient and it was due to his endeavours that the mainline media acquired the title of ‘Godi media’. It is widely known he had imposed an indirect censorship on the media. It is shocking, then, that the person who went to such lengths to boost the image of his boss has been sacked.
His removal, nevertheless, sends a loud message that everything was not right in the Modi government and Modi may be contemplating to act in an even more ruthless manner in the future. Already, Javadekar, before his departure, had begun to move in the direction to fetter the digital media and small time websites as they have emerged as popular dissenting voices.
Ravi Shankar Prasad had pledged his personal loyalty to Modi. He was practically acting as Modi’s personal staff. He was resorting to all types of foggy activities to keep Modi happy and refurbish his image. He is the person who in 2015 lauded Twitter for its efforts to promote and project the image of Modi. But in recent months, he has been working overtime to clamp down on it for giving space to voices of opposition.
Under Prasad, the IT ministry had been involved in a row with social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook over the implementation of new rules notified by the Central government in February. His favourite target was Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. He made it a point to comment on every statement made by him. But eventually, these manoeuvrings did not help him preserve his position in the Cabinet.
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