If TV news is to be believed, West Bengal election is Modi’s to lose, not Mamata’s

‘Tigress’ Mamata is being hunted by the fierce BJP pack led by Modi, as per TV channels who have a keen eye on the West Bengal poll.

If you go by television news coverage of the West Bengal assembly election, the surprise will be if the Bharatiya Janata Party loses, not if it wins. As television sees it, Mamata Banerjee, the ‘tigress’ of the state, is being hunted down like a hapless deer by a fierce, relentless BJP pack led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. At least one of Bengal’s many news channels, Priyobandhu TV, has already predicted a comfortable BJP victory in its ‘Mission 200’ quest for power in the state.

On Monday, Arnab Goswami on Republic TV declared “(There’s) no doubt that the BJP has put everything into the poll…”. Significantly, he added that a loss in Bengal will be as “devastating” for the BJP as the ruling Trinamool Congress. For, such has been the BJP’s onslaught duly recorded on extensive news coverage of its campaign, that it has emerged the front-runner with Mamata lagging behind as the underdog

If BJP is the favourite to win the polls, television news must share some of the credit for it. It has been there, faithfully covering its campaign and highlighting alleged poll violence by the TMC, or more recently, the accusation of corruption in Mamata’s family.

The TMC and Mamata Banerjee do receive coverage— “Mamata versus BJP gets fierce” (CNN News18), “TMC cries vendetta” (Zee New) — but it’s just not in the same league.

Since December 2020, news channels have covered the visits of BJP leaders like party president J.P. Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to the state, with live coverage of their speeches and yatras, the party’s ‘poriborton’ rallies, the TMC’s alleged violent reactions to these — as well as the PM’s virtual addresses on occasions like the centenary celebrations of Visva Bharati University in Santiniketan.

In the last month, not a day has gone by without Bengal making news on several news channels. A fortnight ago, channels like CNN News18 were already calling the elections for the party: “Advantage BJP- TMC already admitted defeat?” was a headline after a TMC leader reportedly asked for Congress and Left support.

For the past one week, the campaign in West Bengal often stole the headlines and most of the coverage. Since Sunday there has been carpet coverage — first, it was “Violence at BJP Poriborton Yatra” (ABP) in “Battleground Bengal” (Republic TV); then it was BJP’s challenge to Mamata to stand from only Nandigram (CNN News18). This was followed by “Mamata family on CBI radar’’ (Mirror Now) after news first broke of the Central Bureau of Investigation’s summons to the wife and sister-in-law of Abishek Banerjee, TMC MP and Mamata Di’s nephew, in an alleged coal scam case.

The latter continued on Monday and even into Tuesday, dominating news and debates — “Blame game” between TMC and BJP (Times Now), “CBI heat on Didi’s nephew (India Today), “Bengal Pressure Cooker” (NDTV India). There were even in-depth shows on subjects like “Troubled past of Rujira, Abhishek’s wife”, and stories that she was a Thai national (India Today).

The coverage reached absurd levels Tuesday morning, with reporters outside Abhishek Banerjee’s home excitedly reporting on Mamata Banerjee’s visit there exactly “8 minutes ahead of CBI’s arrival’’ (Times Now), the CBI’s entry into the Banerjee home, and its exit after “1 hour and 30 minutes” of questioning (CNN News 18).

We were informed of the minutest details — six CBI officers, two women officers who left the house at 1.15 pm — “the examination is over,” said Times Now, “but we don’t know, is it over for the day? Or will they come back after lunch…”. Huh?

All this halla bol when a Times Now reporter was the first to admit that neither Abhishek’s wife Rujira Narula or her sister Menaka Gambhir were accused of anything — they were, at this stage, only “witnesses’’. Nevertheless, the BJP and the news channels put “Didi’s family in the dock” (CNN News18).

Monday was also filled with the PM’s visit to Bengal and his speech in Hooghly — it was “Modi v/s Mamata” (Republic), “Modi wave” (India TV), “Poriborton war cry” in “Sonar Bangla” (India Today).