Corona Diaries 5: When Composure Makes Leadership Shine

Living in denial. That could be the worst approach to a crisis from the leadership. Prioritising politics over public health despite knowledge of the magnitude problem at hand can only be beyond worst. It is criminal. As the Covid-19 began its exponential spread, claiming lives in its wake, several leaders in the world oscillated between denial and playing politics. The consequence, as the numbers reveal, has been terrifying. In India, the numbers may not be revealing the true story as yet, but leadership, both at the levels of the state and the Centre, has given an account of itself which is different from elsewhere in the world. How?

TRUMP’S ‘ HOAX’ TO BOLSONARO’S ‘FANTASY’

The initial response to the looming threat of coronavirus from US President Donald Trump was typically Trump: in-your-face insouciance. While he remained dismissive of the killer potential of COVID-19 despite clear evidence of it elsewhere in the world, the section of the media fiercely loyal to him — godi media, in our parlance — sought to give it a diabolical political spin. The whole noise about corona, it claimed, was scaremongering by Left-liberal groups, which aimed to spread pessimism in an election year and hurt Trump’s re-election bid.

In Brazil, President Jair Bolsonaro responded in a similar fashion. Political rivals and the media were whipping up a hysteria over ‘a little flu’, he asserted, and it was a ploy to see him out. Even as citizens went on a pot-banging protest for days demanding measures to contain the spread of the virus, he maintained that the fear of the pandemic was a ‘fantasy’.

In Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, though less indifferent, was reluctant to inhibit public activity and gatherings. He endorsed the dubious idea of ‘herd immunity’, which insisted that the virus should be allowed a free run so that people eventually develop immunity to it. In Mexico, President Manuel Lopez Obrador asked citizens to live life as normal and not stop public activity.

All of them have done U-turns on their initial positions after the virus went viral and claimed lives by the hundreds. This is nothing but abject failure of leadership.

MODI LEADING FROM THE FRONT

In times of such crises, it helps that the leader is a brilliant communicator. Prime Minister Narendra Modi may have been criticised for overcommunicating as opposed to undercommunicating by his predecessors, but at this juncture his talent with words is proving to be useful. As usual, not a single word is out of place and not a single expression is redundant whenever he addresses the country about the corona threat and the measures from the government to counter it. His body language and tonality in sync with the gravity of the message, he appears reassuring unlike most right wing leaders across the globe. His ‘no panic, no complacency’ approach to the pandemic, in a way, has set the template for communication for other leaders in the country.

NAVEEN PATNAIK: ACTION LOUDER THAN WORDS

Verbal communication is certainly not one of the strongest traits of Odisha’s Chief Minister. But he has proved repeatedly that is hardly an impediment when one can amply compensate for it with action. The government’s response to the recurring threats of cyclones to the state is well-documented. This is once again in evidence in the fight against the corona virus. By all accounts, Odisha’s response at containment has been good. Leading from the front also means delegating responsibility to the right people and backing them to the hilt, even at the risk of being unpopular. With the composed Subroto Bagchi as the government chief spokesperson on COVID-19, he seems to have chosen the right man for the occasion.

ARVIND KEJRIWAL: FAMILY’S TROUBLE-SHOOTERPhoto courtesy: India Today

He just won the assembly election in Delhi with a thumping mandate. When opponents launched a vitriolic communal campaign, seeking to divide Delhiites, he projected himself as the unifier by asking residents of the city-state to treat him as the eldest son of the family. At the moment, as the corona cases spiral, he is playing the eldest son to perfection. He has mixed communication and action well while coaxing and cajoling people to be responsible. He has been on television frequently with words that are soothing and serious in equal measure. It is not easy being the Chief Minister of Delhi, a state adjoining several big ones and with porous borders. It is host to a massive migrant population too. So far he has done admirably despite not having the powers of a regular chief minister.

Leadership has shone bright in other states too. The comforting message from the actions that have followed from them is leadership in India can be responsible and responsive when the occasion demands.