PM Highlights Media's Role in Keeping India's Democracy Vibrant

PTI, Nov 12, 2026, New Delhi: "Gala hi pakad liya unhone", Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday while recalling how a "women's brigade" of journalists in 2001 got wind of him becoming Gujarat Chief Minister and caught hold of him to demand sweets.

Addressing journalists at a Diwali Milan programme organised by the BJP, the Prime Minister lauded the role of the media in keeping Indian democracy vibrant.

He said he has seen the media evolve from the days of press releases to Instagram reels and still remembers when he would arrange chairs at such party gatherings for the media.

Going down memory lane, Modi said there were fewer cameras back then but the warmth of relationships was just the same. He said he had learnt a lot and many of his experiences from that time still prove very useful.

Referring to his completing 25 years as head of a government last month, Modi said only a few top leaders in the party knew he was becoming Gujarat's Chief Minister in 2001.

"One day, a group of journalists stormed into my room. Normally, journalists never treat me like that. But that day, they just barged in. And at that time, there used to be a women's brigade. They possessed immense influence," he said.

"Gala hi pakad liya unhone. Bola mithai khilao (They caught me by my neck and asked me to treat them with sweets)," Modi said.

Greeting journalists at the event held at the BJP headquarters, the Prime Minister remarked that "few old faces" seem to be left in the media and lauded the commitment of journalists in getting "breaking news" even during festival times when everyone tries to spend time at home with their family and loved ones.

"There are many colleagues from the new generation here. However, those who are senior know that I have had a natural and longstanding relationship with your world for a long time," he said.

"From press releases to Insta reel releases, I have witnessed a long evolution of media and media interactions," he said.

In the early 1990s, he recalled, he was entrusted with the responsibility of managing media arrangements across the country for two major yatras.

"And that was a time when one had to search for a fax machine just to send out a press release. When I came to Delhi, I still held this responsibility. At that time, the party operated from the Ashoka Road office," he said.