​By Ranjona Banerji​
As the results of by-elections in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar were revealed through the day on March 14, here was an acid test for the news media, particularly television. In UP, which was a clean sweep for the BJP in the 2017 assembly elections, the constituencies of UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath and his deputy Keshav Prasad Maurya, had evidently not voted to plan the Lok Sabha bypolls.
Instead, through the day, trends showed that the new Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party coalition, sewn together just before the elections for these two seats, were votes ahead of the BJP. The significance is that Adityanath is five-time MP from Gorakhpur and that the BJP and rightwing have held the seat for yonkers.
In Gorakhpur, the media were thrown out of counting centres. But apparently, the days when the BJP commanded and most of the media rolled over like tickled puppy dogs are more difficult to come by. In a discussion with Abhisar Sharma, senior news anchor of ABP News, Janta Ka Reporter editor Rifat Jawaid spoke about the actions of Gorakhpur district magistrate Rajeev Rautela.
Social media exploded with outrage, as did other journalists.
This was unthinkable even two years ago. That journalists, especially on TV, would openly criticise the BJP in this manner! Shocking! We can all collectively name about two or three who might have been so bold.However, there is no need for any joy that TV journalists would report the news of the day without deflections. As with the Farmers’ March in Maharashtra, something had to be found to try and cover up with humiliation with the BJP was facing not just in UP but also in Bihar. Times Now immediately opened its distraction cupboard and dusted off an old favourite, Dawood Ibrahim, and brought him out to display their bravery and courage to the world.
As we went into the evening and the best efforts of bureaucrats and yes-men and women failed, we reached the evening discussions. As Vikram Chandra on NDTV so kindly informed us, the Congress forfeited deposits in both Gorakhpur and Phulpur. True as this was, what a neat way to deflect attention from the actual loss – that the both the chief minister’s and deputy chief minister’s Lok Sabha constituencies were now with a new SP-BSP combine. Or, more importantly, the BJP lost both. Sreenivasan Jain, also on NDTV was better with his maths and news sense as he listed the number of Lok Sabha bypolls the BJP had lost since 2014.
Conspiracy theories now began about how Narendra Modi had engineered this loss because Adityanath was becoming a threat to him. The Firstpost, in its true “His Master’s Voice†manner wrote reams on how Modi is the BJP’s only vote catcher. This way, whatever happens, they have demonstrated their loyalty.
Perhaps it is wise for these “journalists†to wear their loyalty on their sleeves. The Wire has carried a story saying respected, veteran journalist Harish Khare has resigned from The Tribune, where he has made it, once again, one of the India’s best newspapers. Khare was apparently under extreme pressure after an expose on Aadhaar anomalies. The article also lists the number of editors who have been forced to quit for criticising this government. It’s a chilling list. I would add to that senior staff who were made to leave the Economic Times for predicting a win for Akhilesh Yadav in 2017’s UP assembly elections.
(As an aside, after these bypoll results, is anyone asking questions about that amazing election result?)
https://thewire.in/media/tribune-editor-harish-khare-puts-in-his-papers
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Almost completely ignored for March 14 was the shocking way in which the Union Budget and its amendments were pushed through the Lok Sabha without any discussions. Today, March 16, a No Confidence Motion will be moved against the Modi government by the angry Andhra parties. The motion will almost certainly lose but what will the main deflection stories be: 1) Pakistan 2) Dawood 3) Karti Chidambaram?
​Ranjona Banerji is a senior journalist and commentator. She is also Consulting Editor, MxMIndia. The views here are her own​