Modi's Mann Ki Baat may return in June

New Delhi: Confident of his return to power, even as the country still awaits the results of 2019 Lok Sabha polls, All India Radio is understood to have been asked to prepare for unveiling of his monthly talk show Mann Ki Baat.  The maiden show of the second possible Modi term is expected to be telecast in June after he assumes office and wherein he is expected to thank the country for its continued confidence in his leadership. The last such address to the nation by Narendra Modi during was made in Mann Ki Baat programme aired on February 24.

Sources stated that the first installment of the programme of the second Modi tenure is likley to be aired next month, days after the oath taking by the new government. “The date for the telecast is yet to be finalised,” the added.  

During the first programme, if Modi returns to power, it is expected that the Prime Minister will thank the people of the nation for listening to him and sharing their thoughts and suggestions through the programme over the past several years. Modi is also expected to share the cherished memories that he had by connecting to the masses through the medium of radio with some recorded messages also being  aired.

The monthly show made its debut on 3 October 2014, just a few months after the Modi government came to power, and is broadcast on the last Sunday of every month.  The Mann Ki Baat address by the Prime Minister is being broadcast on the All India Radio since and is considered to be its most popular programme. The programme is also aired on private radio channels, Doordarshan and private television news channels and is also livestreamed on the Internet.

The show was discontinued just ahead of the announcement of poll dates by the Eelection Commission of India as it was felt that continued broadcast could create controversy. This despite the fact that all earlier broadcasts of Mann Ki Baat have kept away from political issues and have generally focussed on social issues, sources added.