At approximately 11:15 am Wednesday, 26 June, Sansad TV showed what many of us have wanted to see since the Lok Sabha election results on 4 June: a handshake between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi, now Leader of the Opposition, in the Lok Sabha—signifying a basic cordiality between the government and the Opposition.
After all, isn’t that what the country voted for? In a 25 June editorial titled ‘It’s People’s House’, The Times of India wrote: “…it is still not too much to expect civility and conviviality in the House—electoral results suggested an aggressive govt (sic) and forceful opposition work side by side. Will parties comply with the people’s verdict?”
On Wednesday morning, when it was clear there would be a vote for the Speaker of the Lok Sabha between BJP’s Om Birla and Congress’ K Suresh—the first in 50 years and only the fourth time ever—after considerable bickering between the two sides, NDTV’s Marya Shakil, wondered whether “…what the people wanted is being ignored”. The mandate of the elections was for “conviviality”, she said.
In much the same vein, The Hindu gave a ‘Call for consensus’ in its 25 June editorial—“…the BJP should demonstrate a renewed commitment to the norms and substance of Parliament and the Opposition should respond constructively”.
Clearly, the politicians are neither reading nor listening—and, as Don McLean once sang, sadly, “Perhaps they never will”.
For no sooner had Birla been elected Lok Sabha Speaker and welcomed by both sides of the House, he brought up the Emergency, declared by former Congress PM Indira Gandhi on 25 June 1976, calling it a “jailhouse of democracy”. His comments led to what India Today called “a ruckus” in the Lok Sabha, followed by an adjournment.
The handshake had been forgotten.
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Spectacle to watch in dismay
The news media is showing it like it is: newspapers or TV news channels have not exaggerated or sensationalised the political war being fought out in the open. The BJP and Opposition parties, especially the Congress, are engaged in a bitter, nasty, brutish battle and seem to care little for the optics. Or that their sound and fury pierce our ears, each day.
Do they have any idea how bad they’re all looking in the public’s eyes—the impression we take away from this daily dose of tu-tu main-main? Do they even care? Or are they too deeply involved in their private war, to be able to see the images they project?
But public hai jo sab dekhti hai (watches everything); and what it sees on television news or reads in the newspapers and social media is ugly.
First, we saw the confrontation over the nomination of the Pro-Tem Speaker, then it continued into the election of the Speaker and a possible Deputy Speaker. Throughout Tuesday, we witnessed BJP and Congress leaders tell TV news channels why their stand on the Speaker’s election was the just one.
The sideshow was no prettier. Trinamool Congress MPs in Delhi aired their grievances about the unilateral decision by Congress to field K Suresh for the Speaker’s post—“There’s a problem in the INDI alliance,” said a Times Now anchor on Tuesday afternoon. The Congress was acting like “Bigg Boss”—“Will (the alliance) survive?”
Next thing you know, channels are predicting the death of the INDIA alliance. Oh no, you think to yourself, here we go again. Did the Congress realise how damaging this TMC reaction was to its newly minted 99 seats in the LS, especially when later that same evening it had to discuss Rahul Gandhi’s elevation as Leader of Opposition with the allies?
The incident, according to The Economic Times’ analysis, “Behind-the-scenes power play: Messages and Signals in the Battle for the Speaker’s Post” on 26 June, “…exposed the first discord and fault-lines within… the [Speaker’s] contest is being watched out more to see which side mops up additional numbers or suffers leakages,” wrote editor CL Manoj.
If that is so, then the public doesn’t figure in the political calculations—it’s simply a spectacle for us to watch in dismay.
On Monday, the Prime Minister spoke outside Parliament. In almost the same breath he promised consensus in governance and attacked the Congress over the Emergency. The contrast was so stark. It’s perplexing that politicians continue with such mixed messaging—and think the public won’t see through it.
Then we had the protests: first the Opposition protested outside Parliament with the Constitution in hand—they carried this into the House during the swearing-in of MPs.
Next up, on Wednesday afternoon the BJP stood on the steps of Parliament to condemn the “horrors” of the Emergency. It was intended as a mirror to the Congress carrying the Constitution.
“All this is taking place in the first few days (of Parliament)…” remarked an NDTV 24×7 anchor, sounding surprised.
When the media caught up with Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav, he asked, “Why are we looking back into the past?”
Why, indeed. To viewers, it looks like a complete waste of time. Why aren’t they talking about the present, NEET, instead?
Also read: TV news must do what it’s advising BJP after 2024 results—introspect
Considerable change
For the media, there has been little or nothing to do but cover the developments. Here, the good news is that news channels continue to reflect opinions from across the political chessboard. We hear from many parties now—JDU and TDP (NDA members) to DMK, Samajwadi Party, TMC, RJD from the Opposition. Hopefully, this trend will become the norm.
As for the Congress, it has never had it so good. For most of Monday, the spotlight was on the party and Rahul Gandhi. In one India Today report on the Speaker ‘storm’, at least five Congress members were interviewed.
Times Now went one step further: it spoke to Robert Vadra on the Pro Tem Speaker row and Rahul Gandhi becoming LoP. Now, all that’s left is for Republic TV’s Arnab Goswami to have Vadra as a panellist representing the “Vadra Congress” on his shows.
On Aaj Tak, Sudhir Chowdhary and reporter Mausami Singh found considerable “change” in the political situation between the 2019 and 2024 elections Singh said Rahul Gandhi now exuded self-confidence, gave frequent media bytes and continuously went after PM Modi.
By the way, this is the same Mausumi Singh whom Rahul Gandhi had attacked for asking a “BJP ki line” question.
The author tweets @shailajabajpai. Views are personal.
(Edited by Theres Sudeep)