Instead of just superficially labelling the ongoing Assembly elections as a semi-final to the 2014 lok Sabha poll, the fourth estate should look beyond ‘who’ wins and loses. It must concentrate on ‘what’ wins and loses and ‘why’
Elections are due in five States. One of them, Chhattisgarh, voted in the first round earlier this week. It has the usual set of surprises with Maoist-hit Bastar topping the list. The highest polling was in Rajnandgaon and the lowest in Bijapur. It is a tribute to the grit of the much-maligned Indian who has risen to the occasion. The reference to the ‘Indian’ is apt because Chhattisgarh is not the only State where a high turnout has happened in adverse circumstances. Jammu & Kashmir had performed a similar exercise. The security forces have also performed with aplomb.
News channels continue to serenade the classical non-issues of high entertainment value. The anchors fulminate in a remarkably consistent manner, as they have done across the years. This is understandable because it is how they have distinguished themselves. The topics may change but their capacity to ‘create humour’ remains consistent. It’s like well-known comedy actors who are watched over and over again because of their predictable mannerism and unchanging style.
This Monday, the broadcast of a female anchor interviewing the self-styled leader of the common man in a desolate area, was more rib-tickling than illuminating. She seemed keen to make a splash with her point of view rather than explore the mind of the interviewee. The effect was palpable. On another channel, a champion of BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi was merrily bashing the various ‘inaccuracies’ of opponents.
This has been the fare dished out by most channels in the past few weeks. But what happened to news from the other nearly two dozen StatesIJ Has life stopped elsewhere because five States have Assembly electionsIJ Also, how does elections in five States become a ‘semi-final’ for the general election next yearIJ
If we understand principles of velocity and recreate the combative personality cults of the early years of the Republic, to decide what the nation’s future should be like, then it is an unusual route to take.
Huge resources are at play. It will be interesting to go beyond finding out the middle men in these resources (who are obvious), not the end users (who are so conspicuous). To confine the discussion only to foreign sources will be an over-simplification of the enormous issue.
The fourth estate has a responsibility to flag these concerns and an obligation to ensure that the vitals of national life are protected. The role of the media needs to be encouraged and strengthened. Some of it is evident, but much more is needed.
Elections cannot be reduced to a jostling of the gladiators. It’s not a question of just who wins and who loses; it is a question of what wins and what loses. How are the winning entities in the State going to handle concerns of public health or manufacturing or population rise or availability of micro-creditIJ
The list can be amplified. However, the thundering silence on all these issues and many more, by the key players in the States, seems ominous. The slugfest of the jostling gladiators, even at the State level, is confined to throwing around mutually acrimonious allegations and holding not-so-succinct talks on topics which have little or no bearing on developmental processes.
It is an attribute to the eternal hope with which the Indian works that he turns up in significant numbers to express an opinion and indeed braves all kinds of temptations and threats to express his identity.
There is hope, yet somewhere something is missing. That ‘something’ missing may well be the ability to formulate the issues which really work for the overall good and establish a group of people who are willing to enter the fray to bridge the bridgeable between aspiration and execution.