No doubt, the unquestionable mandate BJP leader Narendra Modi received from the Indian
people puts a huge responsibility on his shoulders but it also raises the bar for the responsibility of the country’s Fourth Estate — making sure that he fulfills his promises.
Among other factors, Modi has come to power mainly on two slogans. One was the promise that his government will bring good governance and more development “for all and with the help of all”. The second was where he appealed to the people that since they gave 60 years to the Congress led governments, why don’t they try Modi for at least 60 months. Very “catchy and winning” slogans but they also triggered huge expectations among the people, including the media.
As we flipped TV channels just days after the result was declared, it was clear that the media fully understands its responsibility. But we also saw some impatience on the media’s part. Just two days after the historic results, Headlines Today’s famous talk show host, Karan Thapar, reported that Modi is having difficulty forming the government. The half an hour talk show, To the Point, was nothing more than speculations and conjectures, but with a calm BJP leader Piyush Goyal who repeatedly reminded Karan that the party leaders are still overwhelmed with the unexpected huge victory and are not yet discussing the government formation.
On foreign policy too, Modi, even before he assumed power, was being analyzed for his responses to international leaders who have congratulated him on his victory. The main criticism is about his response to President Obama, which came after 48 hours. Senior journalists like Rajdeep Sardesai of CNN-IBN expressed concern over India-US relations.
On domestic issues, the TRP hungry Indian media has to realize that it’s too soon to discuss whether Modi will fulfill his election promises. The media must also realize that first and foremost Modi has to overhaul the 10-year old “structures” within the bureaucracy set up by the UPA. This is crucial for him because Modi’s style is to work more with the bureaucrats rather than leaders. The media should focus on the fact that Modi has inherited the same low-level and high-level bureaucrats who have been repeatedly accused by Arvind Kejriwal of corruption and some of whom were caught red-handed during several sting operations conducted by the media. He will have to make some hard choices in an effort to fulfill the lofty promises. All this is bound to take time. If we remember, even late Rajiv Gandhi of the Congress, who had mustered even a larger mandate than Modi, was met with tough resistance and frustration when he tried to bring fundamental changes in the bureaucracy in a hurry.
The media must highlight that Modi has overwhelming problems facing his government. He has to control corruption, lower inflation and the fiscal deficit and at the same time accelerate economic growth, which is not an easy task. He has to keep his party leaders happy and at the same time ward off any undue influences by the RSS, which is already pressuring him on issues such as Ram temple, Article 370, a uniform civil code for the country and its Swadeshi economic philosophy.
Modi has said that he sees foreign policy as having both geopolitical and geoeconomic components. In order to put this into practice, his government will need to make structural changes in several ministries and evolve formal co-ordination mechanisms.
We expect the Indian media to be patient and vigilant at the same time. It is more crucial because a real democracy is based on strong opposition in the parliament which this time is going to be difficult because not even one opposition party is close to NDA’s 336 seats out of 543. The Fourth Estate will have to fulfill the role of a strong, intelligent and honest opposition. The media should have to play the role of a watch dog, and not that of an attack dog or a pet dog with its tail between its legs. Not surprisingly, it seems that as Modi campaigned by visiting India’s nooks and corners, he learnt a lot about the diversity of his country that may had escaped him when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat. It seems the large number of rallies he held in different states has broadened his vision. It was apparent in his first speech to his parliamentary party in the Central Hall on Tuesday. He definitely came across as a different person than the one who was a robotic candidate, repeating same promises at every rally. During his first speech in parliament, he came across as more of a statesman than an arrogant politician. So the media’s role should be to encourage his statesmanship and give him ample space for fulfilling the promises he made to earn the extraordinary mandate, a first even for the BJP.
Author/news analyst Ravi M Khanna is a New Delhi based free lance reporter who covered India’s past six elections for Voice of America.
Feedback: ravimohankhanna@gmail.com
