New Delhi: If there is one message that came across as clearer than ever, it is the redundancy of the pliant media, especially the Hindi television news channels in the country. Across vast stretches of the Hindi heartland, from Rajasthan to Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Jharkhand, the issues that were aired by Hindi television channels during the election campaign barely had any import among common voters.
In fact, none of the canvassing points that Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised were being discussed on the ground. Be it his aim at the Congress for planning to include Muslims in the OBC quota, or the alleged ‘wealth distribution’ proposal from Hindus to Muslims, and even the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya bothered the voters, including those who were inclined towards the BJP. Even in urban and semi-urban pockets, which are mostly strongholds of the saffron party, voters spoke about “takkar (tight contest)” and “absentee MPs” more than any ideological concern of the BJP.
None of the controversies around statements made by opposition leaders or their BJP counterparts that were included incessantly in prime time coverage over the last two months had any resonance on the ground across urban, semi-urban and rural parts of north India. The Prime Minister’s speeches were shown 24*7 by a large section of the Hindi television channels through the last two months but failed to make an impact.
Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty
However, people appeared to be much more clued in reality. A large section of people were aware that the BJP’s starting line in the election was already much ahead of the opposition. The saffron party cornered nearly 50% or even more in most of the Hindi-speaking states in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The opposition had to catch up by a lot from the very beginning, to the extent that the central debate among observers was always whether the opposition could restrict the BJP below the majority mark of 272, and whether the Congress could touch 100 seats.
Against such a backdrop, the opposition’s political narrative around unemployment and price rise had many more takers than the BJP’s ideological campaign aimed at further alienation of Muslims.
Rather, the political divide among voters was along different lines, despite a large section of voters being aware of the issues that the opposition was raising.
A Patna-based core BJP supporter, who runs a small-time travel agency and belongs to the EBC community of Kahars, told me, “All of us know that the criticisms against the BJP that it failed to generate employment and has done nothing much to contain price rise. But we are all BJP wallahs because it ensures suraksha, suvidha, and vyaysatha (safety, ease of going about your business, and order).”
Across Bihar and Jharkhand, those leaning towards the BJP, a large section of whom were among the most self-sufficient and also the most poor, believed that BJP lets them feel a sense of stability, despite all its failures. BJP’s failures were discussed animatedly by many of their supporters too, but couldn’t overpower this larger sentiment.
The three factors – suraksha, suvidha, and vyavastha – being the BJP’s driving force of their social support comprising the most rich and the most poor did not find any airtime in the Hindi news channels at all. The Noida-based resourceful channels were more interested in advancing the Hindu right’s ideological pointers that BJP leaders discussed in public meetings instead of exploring what really empowers the BJP on the ground.
In fact, this reporter came across varying degrees of anger against the media among voters on both sides of the political divide. Both sections felt that the media “aag lagata hai (sets fire where there is peace)”, even while talking about their concerns to reporters.
This is a far cry from a time when journalists and media were seen by commoners as mediums to make their voices heard in the power corridors. But now no more. People do not trust journalists, hesitate to speak with them if they are not local, and attempt to gauge their political leanings before they start speaking. The news camera has become a greater evil for them than some of their real problems that they face on a daily basis because of no or poor state support.
Amidst an environment when a majority of the Hindi television channels have turned into propaganda platforms. While the opposition voters look at journalists with contempt, the BJP activists on the ground are suspicious of their objectivity. Ever since I happened to meet district-level BJP activists on the ground, I have been getting private calls from many of them to get “real feedback” on BJP’s prospects, as even they do not trust the pliant media. More importantly, many of them see a real problem in the near absence of regional political coverage and issue-based stories in Hindu television channels.
“Even a BJP activist like me is bothered about the lack of sanitation and drainage in Chapra (Bihar). I want you to highlight it in your reports,” a mid-level BJP official told me.
In such times, when information is controlled by the BJP and its government at the Centre, a large section of voters have turned towards the internet, especially Youtube for more information and criticism.
“The television reports and programmes do not reflect our reality. Youtubers pick up those issues,” a Jehanabad-based barber Sushil told me. Like Sushil, one finds scores of young men and women turning towards Youtube not only for entertainment but also for news consumption.
“On Youtube, you have real journalists now. You get to see both sides of the political picture. We are better positioned to make our decisions,” said Bharti, a college-going girl in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand.
A CPI(ML-Liberation) worker in Nalanda told me, “We depend on Facebook and Instagram pages to reach people. They are much cheaper than getting our due coverage in Hindi channels and newspapers.”
He narrated how immediately after CPI(ML-Liberation)’s Sandeep Saurav was announced as the I.N.D.I.A candidate in Nalanda, a large number of sales representatives from local news channels and newspapers arrived in the party office. “They offered us different packages, ranging from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 15 lakh for election coverage of Sandeep Saurav. The 15 lakh package promised a daily one-pager story on Sandeep for almost a month,” the CPI(ML-Liberation) worker said. The Left party, of course, could not afford any of those packages as its resources are completely dependent on crowdfunding, starting from Rs 20 per person.
As a result, the local newspapers and channels aired only big public meetings of the I.N.D.I.A bloc, especially those led by RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, in Nalanda, whereas Kaushalendra Kumar, the NDA candidate from Nalanda hogged most media attention.
Across Bihar and Jharkhand, agrarian issues like poor irrigation, lack of proper electricity, inadequate returns, price rise dominated people’s concerns in rural areas, while city planning, traffic snarls, sanitation issues, poor education and health infrastructure were the most significant issues that people raised. But none of these figured in the big media during the campaign.
When the opposition picked up some of these issues, even the BJP supporters were quick to let those blow up, as even they did not have any hope in the big media. They let it amplify but also ensured that their social support doesn’t implode.
Irrespective of who wins or loses the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the big media in Hindi Heartland is facing a crisis in the eyes of the people, and may soon find itself on the brink of an irreversible redundancy.
