Opinion Elections,excitement,overreach

We also offer him some solace — if polls were won on the basis of the number of times your name is mentioned on TV news,Rahul baba would have won the UP elections by a two-thirds majority. “Rahul,Rahul,Rahul” went the chant (or rant?) since last Saturday’s exit polls predicted a Congress loss. Akhilesh Yadav ran him a close second,but that was because he won the elections. “Netaji” Mulayam Singh was ignored by TV. Meanwhile,the actual loser,Mayawati,should kiss Rahul G in gratitude — TV news was so happily preoccupied with “his” defeat in UP, she did not merit even a dishonourable mention on most channels.

Monday’s earthquake in Delhi did not disturb our universe but it left behind strong aftershocks for the Congress in UP,Punjab,Uttarakhand and as far as Goa. Gleefully,TV news bore holes into the cracks in Gandhi’s armour. By the end of Tuesday night’s TV post-mortems,he had been riddled with comments like a target at shooting practice.

And Arnab Goswani could remain on his feet until he was the last man standing,Barkha Dutt could cry hoarse asking and Rajdeep Sardesai could fluster Renuka Chowdhury into mistaking him for Goswami (grrrr!),but none of them got a single Congress person to concede the “captain” is responsible for the UP debacle. Except of course,the “captain” himself. Hilarious,funnier than The Simpsons’ Tuesday episode (Star World),where Bart Simpson goes to vote and each time he presses Obama’s name,McCain gets the vote. Hey now,there’s a thought for Rahul…

TV news was merciless in comparison to the mealy-mouthed Congress. Headlines Today called Rahul,the “Flop Prince”. The days of the Gandhis being treated as gilded lilies are clearly over.

As for our own Super Tuesday,the news anchors and their guests were always ahead of the count. The numbers,as is their wont in an election,kept changing. And the channels kept changing along with them,which confused viewers thoroughly and raised or blighted the hopes of many politicians.

For instance:

8.40 am: Zee News: ‘BJP doing well in UP’. NDTV: ‘BJP is the story today,BSP decimated’. Headlines Today: ‘BJP the big story.’ BJP starts to congratulate Nitin Gadkari on a famous performance. All smiles.

8.55 am: Times Now: ‘SP pulling away. It’s a SP story’.

9.40 am: CNN-IBN: ‘Congress and BJP plateau,BSP now playing catch up.’ All smiles stop.

9.50am: CNN-IBN: ‘SP falling short of majority’. Will Congress support it,everyone asks,or will RLD?

10 am: Headlines Today: ‘Congress ahead of BJP’. Hoorah for Rahul baba.

10.02 am: ‘BJP ahead of Congress’. BJP smiles return.

10.03 am: ‘Congress ahead,no BJP ahead’. Uh-oh.

10.05. am: Congress ahead of… Congress,sorry,BJP,no,it’s a tie for last place!

So it continued till the final results and everyone got off the seesaw,knowing the truth — in UP it was BAD news for Congress,BJP and BSP,while in Punjab it was SAD all the way.

As for the presentation,well,it was mostly like the film title,Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Star News’s studio was like a mela with many kiosks and Deepak Chaurasia rushing from one to another,shrieking in a fit of election-induced excitement. Likewise,Times Now,which had at least a dozen people together,in the studio,speaking at the same time with Arnab G trying — and succeeding — in being louder than all of them. By contrast,the only place quieter than the NDTV 24X7 studio was the DD News studio. That’s because both had cavernous studios and too few people inside. Should have borrowed some from Times Now or Star News. The remaining news channels were midway between these two extremes — in numbers and volume.

Leave you with one of the more memorable quotes from Congress apologists. On Monday,Rita Bahuguna,asked by Rahul Kanwal (Headlines Today),“Isn’t this a massive loss of face for Rahul Gandhi?”,replied: “The result will surprise you. There’s something wrong in the polls”. Rupa Frontline,Ritaji?