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India shining bright for British media
British media's unprecedented coverage of the ongoing general elections in India is reflective of its strengthening economic muscle.
It may be difficult to assess, sitting miles away, whether India is shining for Indians in India, but in Britain India is definitely shining and the unprecedented British media coverage of the ongoing election in India is an example of it. A Guardian leader pointed out that the 'India Shining' slogan has been appropriated "where GDP rose last year by 7 per cent."
The growing media interest in India is reflective of India's strengthening economic muscle. Five years ago coverage of India in the British media was negligible. There was mostly negative coverage of India. But over the past year there is almost 75 per cent more coverage of India in the British press and about 60 per cent of the coverage is positive. An article in The Times this week said: "A year ago, you did not hear much optimism about India."
India's importance is evident from the fact that UK's famous Sky News channel has set up a bureau in India and many broadsheets have created permanent postings for journalists to India.
The interest in the ongoing Indian election is unprecedented. It is believed that the number of British journalists who have flown out to India will outnumber other foreign media persons. BBC has sent correspondents from almost all news wings. Its online edition is posting regular stories on the election.
The broadsheets have also been covering various aspects of the election. The Telegraph, in February itself had covered a story on Priyanka Gandhi, speculating if she would enter politics. There is definitely considerable interest in the Gandhi family in the UK media. On Thursday The Telegraph reported on Rahul Gandhi's entrance in politics and wrote that "he is being credited with sparking a revival in the party."
The article points out that the turnaround in the exit polls is being "seen as further evidence of the enduring power and influence of the Gandhi name." The Herald, The Sunday Times and even The Scotsman ran articles on the Gandhi heir. The Guardian and The Times covered the sari massacre in Lucknow. Discussing Vajpayee's constituency of Lucknow, the BBC noted that "the city fits in with Mr Vajpayee's image as a moderate politician with a flair for oration and poetry." The Economist headlined its article on the election: "The greatest show on earth: A contest less of policies that of opportunistic alliances."
Such interest in the elections in the press here also reflects India's role in political and international affairs. It is also an acknowledgement of the benefit Britain has reaped from the Indian daispora. A leader in The Times said they, the Indian immigrants, have achieved much. They have gone out of the way to become as British as possible, as fast as possible, but they have also made a point of maintaining links with their mother culture. "Their entrepreneurial pizzazz has given the Asian population in this country a healthy disposable income of £14 billion a year. Some have never been to India, but still plan to marry within Hindu communities here, and Bollywood is as chic as Hollywood."
The British media also realises the need to now capture the Indian audience. The advertisement market is already aiming various product ads at Indian consumers by using Indian themes.
On the first day of the elections the Telegraph, in an article on the election printed a photograph of election officials transporting electronic voting machines on an elephant in the north east. The report said: "Electronic voting machines are being used in the election for the first time, transported around the country by helicopter, elephants and camels." It also said that "the BJP has been campaigning on a platform of economic growth and improved peace prospects with Pakistan." Even the New Scientist carried an article on the electronic voting machines, while The Independent wrote an editorial on it.
The Guardian and Financial Times are also publishing editorials on the election. An FT editorials wrote: "Neither the Hindu nationalist BJP nor the Congress party, its secular rival, is likely to put at risk the economic legacy for which they have been jointly responsible over the past decade." A Daily Telegraph leader linked the recent cricket series between Pakistan and India and commented that whoever wins "will have to take into account the goodwill created on the pitch over the past month and the prospect of Pakistan soon touring India." There have been some human interest stories printed in broadsheets here, for instance a story about Sonia Ajmeri, the eunuch who is contesting in Gujarat.
Bollywood seldom fails to catch the media attention in this country. The Independent wrote: "Bollywood movie stars are taking to politics with a vengeance, looking to cash in their fame at the ballot box." However, the Gujarat riots are still quite alive in memories here, and there has been a fair coverage of the state. One Times articles was headlined: "Indian Muslims shun India election." Bihar has also not escaped media attention. The Guardian titled its article: Criminal candidates hold Indian state captive.
Also, given the growing trade between India and the UK, most people with business interests in India have been keenly following these elections. Following the recent up heavel in the stock market, the foreign editor of The Times wrote of the jitters it caused: "Those jitters may put more weight on the notoriously unreliable polls than is justified, halfway through the four-stage election. Investors are right, of course, that an election result that caused economic reform to stall would be bad news."
"All the same, the economic transformation that now allows those investors to talk of India in the same breath as China is not about to run out of steam abruptly, although there are real fears about whether it is broadly based enough to keep up the pace. A year ago, you did not hear much optimism about India."
But she wrote that in a year it has all changed. "In just a year, that perception has changed. Stock-market investors, who are able to respond to such shifts more quickly than direct commercial investors, put about $7 billion into India last year, seven times the amount in the previous year and more than double the amount into China. Why? The rains came and it was a good year for agriculture, while there is the prospect of talks with Pakistan, even if it is premature to pronounce peace."
Pointing out that the "election campaign slogan of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party - India Shining - appears to have been singularly unpopular in rural areas, which still lack adequate electricity. The risk is of social division and conflict, leading perhaps to political instability. Secondly, regulation remains haphazard, locally based and a serious barrier to foreign investment. Crucial infrastructure, notably power, remains primitive. A government that did not encourage more deregulation would be a setback. The broader question is whether services alone are capable of sustaining growth at the new, high rates."
She also asserts that although the population of India and China are the same, the Indian population is younger. "But at the moment, given the changes that have begun to take place, it is also an opportunity. For all the stock market's worries this week, it is unlikely that a hung parliament would mean the sudden end of the boom."
Incidentally, one British journalist writing on the elections said that the exit polls in India might not be correct because most voters there are reluctant to reveal their choice.
