When you imagine things are really bad, they only get worse. For Indian democracy, and in the behaviour of India’s democracy watchdog, the media.
The issue of the electoral bonds and the Supreme Court strictures against the obfuscations of the State Bank of India in following its orders to reveal details of donations is still ongoing. The Union Government led by Narendra Modi had remained brazen and sanguine in its confidence that it is untouchable by any corrective forces.
https://www.reporters-collective.in/trc/modi-govt-allowed-bjp-to-illegally-encash-expired-bonds
Much of this confidence comes from the obsequious behaviour of the Indian mainstream media, not just from the BJP’s dependence on its core support base – Hindu religious majoritarianism. And the mainstream media, 10 years down the road, has remained steadfast in its worshipful genuflections.
It does not matter how badly the Modi government performs, how viciously it misuses democratic institutions, the Indian media is always at hand to support it and blame someone else.
Thus on a day that the Income Tax department froze the accounts of the Congress Party and arrested Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the Indian media was out looking for someone else to blame. The fact that we are on the verge of a general election, that the Model Code of Conduct is in force mean nothing to the media because they mean nothing to the Modi government and the BJP. Indeed, in spite of all the government’s tantrums about citizenship, the fact that a Bangladeshi citizen is a Union minister matters not to the government and therefore matters not to the media. There have been massive campaigns against other ruling parties and governments in power for much less.
Just consider this: one of the co-accused in the liquor licence case for which Kejriwal has been arrested – after Manish Sisodia of AAP and Kalvakuntla Kavita of the BRS – turned approver and then donated to the BJP in electoral bonds soon after his arrest. This spells CORRUPTION in capital letters but the lens of corruption somehow never points in the direction of the BJP.
https://www.thenewsminute.com/telangana/delhi-liquor-policy-case-aurobindo-pharma-bought-bjp-electoral-bonds-days-after-arrest
The number of politicians accused of corruption by the BJP who have been absolved of all charges after joining the BJP may be a social media joke but it is a serious example of how the BJP manages to use its clout – from media control to misuse of its powers – to remain stain free.
How news is manipulated is clear from this example from The Economic Times. The spin, the dependence on some vague “sources” is blatant, and only works to absolve the Modi government of any manipulation. The victim is somehow to blame:
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/elections/lok-sabha/india/congs-accounts-not-frozen-recovery-of-rs-135-cr-made-more-transactions-under-scrutiny-officials/articleshow/108685200.cms?from=mdr
Most others in the “more credible than TV media” have gone with the usual cheat method of headlining what the Congress says, rather than reporting the issue itself. This absolved them of any retaliatory action by the Modi government. Or so they think.
This fear of a ruling government is not the sign of a thriving democracy and we all know that. We verge between a dictatorship and a fascist state. We have some tatters of democratic processes fluttering here and there. The Supreme Court in some cases. A few independent media organisations. A few citizens. A smattering of retired bureaucrats and government servants.
Opposition parties themselves seem battered by both government actions and lack of media support.
While this farce of an election begins, with the Modi government sidestepping the Model Code of Conduct and the Election Commission watching, this photograph somehow encapsulates what the Prime Minister thinks of India and our democracy.
Ranjona Banerji is a senior journalist and commentator. She writes on MxMIndia on Tuesdays and Fridays. Her views here are personal.