# Rijiju defends Modi not holding press conferences, cites interviews 2026-08-27T02:28:00+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju has defended Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision not to hold regular press conferences, arguing that Modi gives more interviews to journalists than any previous prime minister. In an interview with India Today, Rijiju said journalists had conducted organised campaigns against Modi during his tenure as Gujarat chief minister, making routine press conferences counter-productive. Rijiju described the press conference as a mere formality, adding that Modi prefers direct engagement with the public through interactions with scientists, students and athletes. He cited regular meetings with ISRO scientists, annual conversations with students during exam season and interactions with athletes before and after international competitions. On the monsoon session disruptions, Rijiju blamed the Congress and the Samajwadi Party for deciding not to let Parliament function. When asked whether the government would call a special session of Parliament, he said it would inform the House at the appropriate time. ## Indian Opinion Analysis India has not had a regular prime ministerial press conference since the early years of the UPA government. Manmohan Singh held a single annual press conference before the budget, a practice he dropped after 2012. The current government’s preference for interviews, town-hall events and the monthly Mann Ki Baat radio address is a deliberate strategic shift that predates the pandemic. What the exchange between Kiren Rijiju and the interviewer exposes is that the political class now treats a formal press conference less as a routine democratic obligation and more as a tactical choice. The next concrete test of this approach will be the winter session of Parliament, where the government has 14 bills pending from the monsoon session alone. Whether either side uses a press conference to break the stalemate will signal if the format still has any institutional value. ## Coverage - aajtak.in Leads with Rijiju's defence of Modi and frames press conferences as a formality, neutral on the government's position This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: Gujarat, India Today, Kiren Rijiju, Narendra Modi, Parliament Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/rijiju-defends-modi-not-holding-press-conferences-cites-interviews/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/rijiju-defends-modi-not-holding-press-conferences-cites-interviews/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/