Questions Zee News & Times Now did not ask PM Modi

Why is Narendra Modi the first Prime Minister to spend so much time campaigning in state elections? How does he get the time? Is it desirable?

This is one of the several questions we would have liked the Prime Minister to answer.

We would have also quizzed the PM on his contention that the addition to the number of EPFO members, because of an amnesty scheme that let employers off the hook for defaults between 2009 and 2016, indicated additional employment.

Whatever be the case, these are NOT the questions that Zee News and Times Now chose to ask. A list of questions they could have asked:

• For the last 44 months, you had an incredible run of good luck with international prices of petroleum, which hovered around $110-130 a barrel during 2012-14 , plummeted to $40 or so. It has now risen to $70. But the benefit was not passed on to the consumers. How do you defend it?
• During the Gujarat election you accused a former Vice President, a former Prime Minister and a former Army Chief of conspiring with Pakistan against you. Were you serious?
• Following demonetisation in November, 2016, you had publicly stated that there was a threat to your life and wept. Has your government been able to track the conspirators?
• While demonetizing 87% of the currency in circulation, you had sought 50 days to ensure results, presumably recovery of all the black money. Are you satisfied with the end result?
• Western media, including prestigious publications like The Economist and The New York Times have castigated your government for rising intolerance and persecution of the minorities. What kind of reassurance can you offer to the minorities ?
• Arguably, some of your ministers drove Rohith Vemula to commit suicide. Since then there has been an upsurge of Dalit assertion. How do you view this?
• Growing inequality in the country has become a concern. The Economist in a recent report has said that India’s middle class has no money. Advocacy groups suggest that wealth is getting concentrated in fewer hands.
• Your Government announced a Nagaland accord in 2015 with much fanfare. But you have neither revealed the details nor has the agreement been placed before the Parliament. Why is that so?
• The Niti Ayog CEO Amitabh Kant is on record having said that banks physically will become history in the next three years. What will be the impact on employment?
• What is your relationship with Adanis? There is speculation over the unusually fast growth of the Adanis coinciding with your own rise in politics. Many of its deals have been questioned. You have not explained the Rafale deal involving Anil Ambani and Baba Ramdev appears to have been given large tracts of land at throwaway prices. How can you then claim to run a taint-free government?
• When you were the Gujarat CM, you opposed FDI in retail as well as the Aadhaar project. Why did you change your mind after becoming PM?
• India’s relations with not just Pakistan but with almost all the neighbours including Nepal appears to have been hit a new low during the last few years. How do you explain this?