Election 2009: many surprises and media celebrations

The 2009 General Elections have indeed thrown up major surprises. Very few, perhaps, would have predicted a substantial 206 seats for the Congress. Many political analysts and media pundits have termed the UPA victory as a victory of secularism. Though UPA in general and the Congress party in particular may like to consider themselves secular, secularism for them is more a tactic or means to garner a vote base than an ideology to stand by. However, among the plethora of political parties one would agree to the fact that the UPA, by and large, was closer to secular ideals.

The voter in the country, it seems, has not voted so much for secularism as for a stable government. This was reflected immediately in the markets when they opened on Monday, May 18, when the Sensex went up over 2000 points, mainly with the excitement of a stable government in the centre. Added to this was the NDA campaign which backfired. While in 2004 they tried to fool the country through their India Shining campaign and paid for it, this time round they once again tried a similar strategy by attacking an honest Prime Minister calling him weak. Their usual hate campaign against the minorities (cf. Modi and Varun) and projecting Modi as the Prime-Minister-in-waiting, too did not go well with the voters. Be it as it may, the common man is rejoicing because he/she can expect at least a stable government for five years.

The media too were upbeat. Strangely, almost all news channels and the print media in their Exit Poll predicted an edge for the UPA. It is a known fact that Exit Polls reflect more the desire of the particular media organisation than the opinion of the voter. So there was a visible rejoicing among media institutions at the UPA’s victory. They know very well that the UPA will be much more corporate in its approach, unlike the NDA which is ambivalent and not sure as to which road to tread on. Further, the absence of the Left parties in the UPA was another cause for celebration, as the UPA government got a free hand to further their unfulfilled agenda of privatisation of important sectors like Insurance and Banking.

But the media have their task cut out now. In the absence of the Left parties, the UPA will be emboldened in its endeavour for aggressive privatisation. It is here that the media have to play the watchdog and constantly keep the government on tenterhooks by critiquing its policies. Further, the government has the responsibility to fulfill all its pre-poll promises. Now is the golden opportunity for the media to be the fourth estate in true sense of the term.