Rajat Sharma didn’t nurse a grudge against the Congress, even though he had reasons to. Congress spokesperson Ragini Nayak had publicly accused the India TV’s Editor-in-Chief of using foul language against her during a live election special on 4 June, and her complaint was amplified by members of the party, including Jairam Ramesh.
Sharma filed a defamation suit against Nayak—he was clearly annoyed by the accusation. But when Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s candidature for the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency was announced this week after brother Rahul Gandhi vacated the seat, Sharma resisted the temptation to retaliate with remarks about ‘parivarvaad’ (nepotism).
His channel promotes Prime Minister Narendra Modi, quite openly – it held a grand Q&A session with the PM just before the general elections in a packed auditorium which was more like a felicitation than an interview. But on 17 June, Sharma went out of his way to compliment Priyanka Gandhi and her entry into Parliament.
“…It should have been done much earlier,” said Sharma on his show Aaj ki Baat, “It is good… She raises important issues, asks sharp questions… but with dignity.”
His colleague at India TV didn’t seem to agree: Saurav Sharma, on his show Coffee pe Kurukshetra, suggested that this move sidelined Priyanka Gandhi—she was literally sent south.
So, surprise, surprise, TV news anchors clearly disagreed with each other over this issue—that doesn’t happen too often.
Also read: TV news dares to ‘debate’ Modi-BJP leadership after Bhagwat comment—a small change on the air
Booster shot for dynastic politics
On Aaj Tak, Sudhir Chaudhary, a bete noire of the Opposition, was completely matter-of-fact about Priyanka Gandhi’s new political innings. He listed seven consequences of the decision with a completely straight face. There would be three Gandhis in Parliament, Priyanka’s importance would increase, Amethi would remain with Kishori Lal Sharma, and yes, dynastic politics had just got a booster shot.
In an earlier show, Chaudhary had argued there were many advantages to Rahul Gandhi becoming the leader of the Opposition in Parliament: He outlined how this would equip Rahul Gandhi with powers to scrutinise the NDA government’s decision-making, and its financial expenditures more thoroughly.
Another Hindi news channel, News Nation can claim bragging rights for perhaps the first interview with Rahul Gandhi on mainstream TV news channels, in a long, long time. The channel’s Mohit Raj Dubey caught up with the Congress leader soon after the announcement that he would retain the Rae Bareli seat in the Lok Sabha and that Priyanka Gandhi would fight from Wayanad.
Rahul Gandhi echoed what he had told the UK-based The Financial Times newspaper: The election results were a “tectonic shift” in the country. “Hatred” was no longer acceptable, he said. The Congress had to give another “vision” and the Opposition had to find answers to the pressing concerns of unemployment, price rise, and the concentration of power and wealth.
Of course, Dubey didn’t ask any awkward questions about dynastic politics or three Gandhis being in Parliament at the same time.
On news channels like CNN-News 18, anchors were more skeptical. They did wonder why Priyanka Gandhi had not fought the Lok Sabha election from Rae Bareli when it was pretty certain that Rahul Gandhi would win from Wayanad. Was the party not confident “she can win from Rae Bareli?” anchor Zakka Jacob asked.
“This is an anti-climax,” declared India Today’s Rahul Kanwal. “Why did Priyanka Gandhi not fight from Rae Bareli?” Anchor Rajdeep Sardesai, on the same channel, wanted to know if Rahul Gandhi was “abandoning Wayanad”.
Priyanka’s debut
The most startling ‘revelation’ came from journalist R. Rajagopalan on Times Now: He claimed that the “real story will start now”. What is the real story? That Priyanka Gandhi will be the “shadow Prime Minister” once she’s in the Lok Sabha—Rahul Gandhi does not want to take that responsibility, Rajagopalan claimed. He also used several words that had to be deleted from the recorded version of the Newshour debate with anchor Madhavdas G.
Kerala’s Malayala Manorama’s online English edition had a counterargument for Rajagopalan. In an article titled ‘Reasons for Congress’ Priyanka launch in Rahul’s Wayanad’, G. Ragesh applauded the resolution of the Rae Bareli-Wayanad dilemma, calling it, “A right mix of political thought, emotional concerns and realpolitik.”
He said, the “Gandhi family must have been waiting for the right time to introduce Priyanka” to electoral politics, ideally in the North but the party’s (mis)fortunes in UP since 2014 delayed her launch.
“Priyanka’s candidature and potential win from the Kerala constituency is part of the Congress’ attempt to keep its support base in the south intact…’’ Ragesh argued that if any other candidate fought from Wayanad, it would have “hurt” the Congress and the voters.
In another South Indian newspaper, Deccan Herald, Suhit K Sen wrote that “in what seems in hindsight like a masterstroke…” Congress fielded Rahul Gandhi from Rae Bareli and Kishori Lal Sharma from Amethi… It proved to be a slam dunk.”
Sen also said that “everything was carefully scripted” and Priyanka’s candidature from Wayanad helped assuage the “unhappiness in the Congress” to keep her out of the general elections.
“So, everything has not only played out perfectly for the Congress,” he wrote—in hindsight, of course.
Up north, mainstream newspapers like The Times of India and The Indian Express have not commented on Priyanka Gandhi’s candidature but Hindustan Times had a lead editorial in its 19 June edition. ‘Congress eyes UP gateway to power’ argues that Rahul Gandhi had to remain in UP to consolidate the “gains” made in the Lok Sabha polls in “the state that holds the keys to power in Delhi.”
The Economic Times took a cheeky dig at what is called the first family of Indian politics. It referred to the decision-making process on the Rae Bareli-Wayanad seats at a meeting where only the Gandhis, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, and All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary KC Venugopal were present. “Given it was matter within the family, there was no need for a larger institutional meeting… to decide the matter, said people aware of the matter…” the article read.
By the way, it was Rahul Gandhi’s birthday on Wednesday,18 June. Besides a full-page advertisement in The Hindu ‘to the leader of the people’ by Congress MP from Kanniyakumari, the news media virtually ignored it, leaving social media to felicitate him.
The author tweets @shailajabajpai. Views are personal.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)
There is a tribe out there of charlatans masquerading as journalists, some even calling themselves senior journalists, who have made a career out of sitting in Nehru/Gandhi dynasty’s godi and chanting chalisa of this dynasty.