When the prime minister of India arrives in a city and summons the city's police commissioner, divisional commissioner and district magistrate to be briefed about the police action taken in the horrifying case of a young woman being raped by multiple men over 23 days, is he sending a message to the chief minister of the state about law and order in the province?
On Friday, April 11, 2025, soon after his arrival in Varanasi, his Lok Sabha constituency to inaugurate multiple development projects, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was briefed on the airport tarmac itself by the city's police commissioner, divisional commissioner and district magistrate about what action they had initiated in the gang rape case.
Look at Modi's body language in these photographs. Contrary to his public image, Modi in private is, as one of his senior Cabinet ministers once said, the best listener in politics, carefully assimilating all points of view before taking a decision.
Photographs curated by Anant Salvi/Rediff.com
Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com