On January 17, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed World Economic Forum. During his address, a minor technical glitch happened, which was picked by Twitter trolls to dent the image of PM Modi, yet again on the international forum. Interestingly, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi relied on these trolls and tried to defame PM Modi on social media.
इतना झूठ Teleprompter भी नहीं झेल पाया।
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) January 18, 2022
In his tweet, Gandhi wrote, “Even Teleprompter could not bear such lies.”
Twitter trolls had a ‘rollercoaster ride’ of propaganda
Several verified Twitter trolls, some of them masquerading as journalists, saw the technical glitch as an opportunity to run their agenda-filled propaganda against PM Modi. The Wire journalist Rohini Singh said, “Seems some poor technicians in the PMO will lose their job today. Just hope they aren’t charged with sedition/UAPA and what not. Noida media must be on standby to take out some Khalistani link to the embarrassment today!”
Filmmaker Vinod Kapri said, “Unbelievable. The sad thing is that as soon as the teleprompter failed in the #WEF address, Narendra Modi could not utter a single word, and the stammer after that is even more painful.” Kapri is known for his anti-Modi and anti-BJP rants.
Congress leader Jignesh Mevani said, “Worried about teleprompter operator. We all know how vindictive he can get, especially when it’s his own inadequacies are exposed.”
Maharashtra Congress SM Coordinator Pankaj Saraf said, “This movement, it is proved he is just an actor (Parrot), not a leader.”
What happened during PM Modi’s WEF address?
OpIndia checked the recording of PM Modi’s address available on WEF’s official YouTube channel. His address started at 8:37. In less than a minute, someone from his team signalled him. That was the time when he had looked at his left. It can be seen between 9:20 to 9:26. At 9:27, someone from the background said, “Sir aap unse ek baar poochein ki sab jud gaye kya. (Sir, please ask them if everyone has joined)”.
Then, from 9:33, PM Modi confirmed from Klaus Schwab, Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, if he could hear him, to which he confirmed he could hear him. After that, Schwab asked to officially start the address and first introduced PM Modi. After his introduction, PM Modi addressed the forum again.
It is notable initially translator was not speaking while PM Modi was addressing the forum. She started translating PM Modi’s speech in Hindi only after PM Modi restarted his address following Schwab.
The issue of teleprompter
It is obvious that the speech of the Prime Minister was being run on the teleprompter. The speeches that PM gives on such platforms are prepared in advance. When PM Modi is addressing a crowd, the teleprompter is located on the sides. In such cases, PM Modi often looks at left or right periodically.
However, when such an address is given virtually, or he is recording an address, the teleprompter could be located in front of him. It is evident as PM Modi looks straight into the camera during such speeches. In this case, someone from PM’s team must have tried to get his attention when he looked on the side.
The explanation was detailed in a video by popular Twitter account Politikal Keda as well on its Twitter account.
Waiting for @TwitterIndia to mark all those tweet with “Manipulated Media” who were running fake propaganda of Teleprompter failure. pic.twitter.com/bZvySTI19y
— Political Kida (@PoliticalKida) January 17, 2022
It is amusing that Rahul Gandhi, who has a history of gaffes himself during public addresses would want to take a dig at PM Modi for what was obviously a technical glitch.
