Media gives Rahul a hand, thumbs down to BJP, and guess who was on Times Now

Congress President Rahul Gandhi arrives to address media after the party's win in Assembly elections of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, at the party headquarters | PTI

Front Page

Today, the newspapers agreed with the public in three states: it was time to give the Congress a hand.

A day after the election results, front pages are full of puns and praise for the “pappu” of politics. On its front page flap, the Times of India writes on the Congress victory in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, “Finally, the Upper Hand”. It heralds Rahul Gandhi as the primary gainer, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah as the losers in these crucial assembly elections.

Hindustan Times goes with, “Hand on Heartland” and explains why the “heartland could be hurtland for BJP”: “if the parliamentary seats… more or less mirrored the assembly outcome.” This would mean bad news for the BJP in 2019. “We’ve a fight now!” exclaims The Telegraph sounding rather pleased. The Indian Express uses the occasion to warn the ruling party at the Centre: “Congress brings BJP 3 notches down”.

The Economic Times also asks a question of the BJP: “Is Modi’s magic waning?” while Business Standard goes with the bold, “Whitewash for Saffron”.

The Express reflects rumblings within the BJP: “Just as they take credit, top must share blame too”. It also explains what many wanted to understand: that the Election Commission was very cautious about counting votes after an error in then earlier Nagaland polls, the increase in postal ballots and close contest: in “Behind EC delay”.

HT looks at what Team Rahul got right: “How Congress led by Rahul turned it around in 3 states”: “Never write the obituary of a party. Or a leader. And never write the obituary of a party which is 133 years old, and a leader who belongs to a family which has produced three prime ministers…Never also underestimate the ability of the Indian electorate to throw up surprises,” it adds.

TOI, HT and Express all look at rural distress. TOI analyses the role of BSP on “How the picture will change if Mayawati rethinks”.

In its editorial, TOI is clear about where the BJP went wrong, “The takeaway from these elections,” it writes, “should be that while it may have mastered the art of political communication and its ground game is still the best, these will not suffice to win elections into the foreseeable future. Performance is a critical factor.”

But The Hindu is not so sure that anti-incumbency is driving the BJP’s performance: “To reduce the results of the Hindi-speaking States to the intangible anti-incumbency sentiment would be a mistake…A potent mix of rural distress and urban angst seem to have contributed to the erosion in the BJP’s support base”.

The lengthy Express is more contemplative: the Congress must reconcile its ideals with its multi-faceted campaign: “Congress must also ask itself if, and to what extent, the cost of revival and resurgence must be paid in terms of the party BJP-ising itself…”

In all of this the handsome victories of TRS in Telengana and MNF in Mizoram get little column space on the front pages, but find mention in TOI’s editorial, where it writes, “Strong regional outfits come with agenda, slogans and rhetoric that often stump national parties. In the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, it will be interesting to see whether TRS and MNF will spin a different narrative to book seats in Parliament.”

Prime Time

After an exhausting full day on air, beginning at 7 am and continuing non-stop into the night, it was prime time throughout the day for the election specials across channels.

Counting continued into the night so TV anchors had to dampen their rhetoric somewhat because results in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh remained unclear. Still, it was Congress’s day, and most channels stepped up to give them a hand.

Times Now editor-in-chief Rahul Shivshankar talked about the verdict for the BJP in “Dec11 WithTimesNow”.

“The states where BJP lost had campaigners come in and campaign so much against one particular leader or minister that the work of the incumbent chief ministers never got highlighted,” said Congressman Clyde Castro.

MoS Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Babul Supriyo defended BJP saying workers had put in every effort “that would not have so had there been any complacency in Rajasthan. We knew things were dicey in Rajasthan.”

BJP’s Tuhin Sinha said, “This result is not against the BJP, except in Chhattisgarh where BJP has been in power for the last 15 years…that is the only conclusive victory Congress has earned. In Rajasthan we had a 36 per cent vote share and… vote share has increased, BJP …this is still not against the BJP.”

Republic TV’s anchor Arnab Goswami talked about power politics in the Hindi heartland states. Political analyst Royden Roach said, “It is very clear that the Modi magic is gone, it was all a jhumla. Look at what’s happening to the judiciary, to the farmers. People have become aware.”

Janata Dal (United) spokesperson Ajay Alok attacked the Congress saying, “If you lose a state, you lose a CM and a leader. Now which leader does the opposition have?”

Waris Pathan (AIMIM) attacked both big parties: “Everybody came to Telangana to campaign, what happened?”

Aaj Tak chose to look forward in Dangal with anchor Rohit Sardana, where the discussion was about the possible chief ministerial candidates in states where Congress won.

Senior journalist Nalini Singh said, “Ashok Gehlot has more experience for 2019 elections but in the next round, Sachin Pilot will be chosen representative.”

When asked if these results should be taken as indicators for 2019, said, “Some course correction will possibly happen now, in the next few months you will see BJP talking about development. They might even have to stop their caste-based politics.”

BJP’s Sanjay Kakad thought people should talk more about the development improvement Modi’s government has brought in and not just about the statues he had erected

BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia first congratulated Congress but took a sly dig at them by mentioning the smooth functioning of the electronic voting machines (EVMs) — Congress had alleged tampering with EVMs.

And do note that Congress spokesperson’s went where they have not gone in several years: veteran Ashwani Kumar appeared on Times Now.