Among prime ministers Rajiv Gandhi was the most caring PM for scribes and press photographers says Praveen Jain

The iconic photo journalist and the associate editor of India Express ( Photo), famous for his outstanding and rare photographs spanning his challenging career of more than three and a half decades Praveen Jain says that among the ten prime ministers he has covered during the last 35 years as a photo journalist, Rajiv Gandhi was the best among all as he was not only physically and mentally smart, intelligent, affable and tremendously caring his face was also extremely photogenic followed by the present prime minister Narendra Modi who’s hectic political activities, engagements, eloquence and mood swings as the most mobile PM accord tremendous opportunities for photographers like him to capture unique pictures thus bringing interest to the profession.

Rajiv Gandhi was too caring for journalists n press photographers in addition to his other unique qualities as a politician and a good human being whereas no other politicians cared for the journos accompanying them compared to concern Rajiv had for the scribes n photographers added Jain.

Praveen Jain was answering to the questions of the budding young trainee journalists who’d visited his photo exhibition at the All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society at Rafi Marg, New Delhi.

Today was the fifth day of his exhibition titled ” 200& One” inaugurated by the union minister Ram Vilas Paswan on 2nd of November.

Praveen Jain whose exclusive pictures of Hashimpura, UP massacre of the eighties when Rajiv Gandhi was the prime minister, used by the court to punish the 16 jawans of Provincial Armed Constabulary for life convicted of murdering several innocents of the minority community primarily hails from Rohtak, Haryana having started his journey as a budding photographer under the charge of the then photo editor of Indian Express S. Paul thirty five years ago from now.

Today he is an established name in the photo journalism of the country having worked in Indian Express, Sunday Mail, Delhi Recorder, Surya Magazine n several other journals.

Having covered 10 prime ministers and several presidents including parliament for more than three decades Praveen is also a main witness in Babri Masjid demolition case of 1992 which he covered for several days despite his camera and valuable equipments having been broken n damaged in the attack by the unruly mob.

Praveen’s exhibition is displaying about 100 to 150 rare photographs depicting various moods, shades and events of prime ministers, presidents, union ministers, their families, chief minister and head of the foreign countries.

The former prime minister Vishwanath Pratap Singh who appreciated Praveen for his outstanding clicks and candid photography was however always scared of him, apprehensive of being captured in an ineasy pose or moods.

Praveen’s pictures showing Laloo Prasad Yadav’s family living in Janata Quarters of Patna in a very modest lifestyle with Rabri Devi holding her children on her lap, former PM Deve Gowda literally napping while sitting with the then chief justice of India in a function, PM Modi with the former France PM Francois Hollande with a caption ” Deal Fixed” , PM Narendra Modi with former deputy PM Lal Krishna Advani in a very simple posture raising slogan in his historic Rath Yatra for Ram Temple and with Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi in Kashmir Valley at the time of hoisting the national flag n today he is a PM with both Joshi and Advani out of the political frame etc. are some of the rare appreciable pictures in the exhibition with 100 other outstanding clicks.

Today the union minister of child and women development Mrs. Maneka Gandhi, visited the exhibition . The exhibition has captured the various moods and shades of former and present prime ministers, union ministers, chief ministers, foreigh heads of the state, sons n daughters of politicians of eminence, riots of Hashimpura, Babri Masjid imbroglio, earthquakes, actor turned politicians like Amitabh Bachchan and socio political events.

His work of photography with precision covers political developments of the last three and a half decades. A must see exhibition. Prominent amongst others who had so far visited the exhibition are the former prime minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, union minister Menaka Gandhi, CPM General Secretary Sitaram Yachury, Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan, associate consulting editor of Indian Express Coomi Kapoor, Shekhar Gupta, Chief editor The Print and for editor in chief The Indian Express, the Bofors fame investigative journalist Chitra Subramaniam earlier in Hindu stationed at Geneva, Ravish Kumar of NDTV and the former prime minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s daughter Namita etc and had penned down their appreciations for Praveen Jain’s valuable contribution in photo journalism.