It is election season and in a beautiful display of vibrant democracy, everyone seems to be talking only about it. Supporters of politicians and political parties have taken to social media to voluntarily campaign for the ones they support. From sending messages on WhatsApp to changing display image and name of WhatsApp groups, the election mood has firmly set in.
All, except Congress. Which seems clueless as even their lone campaign, ‘Chowkidar Chor Hai’ seems to have backfired as BJP and its supporters hijacked that ‘insult’ into a badge of pride. Congress’ secret weapon, Priyanka Gandhi makes Rahul Gandhi appear well clued in on what is happening in the world. For example this ‘atak gayi’ video.
https://twitter.com/Humor_Silly/status/1107562125638066182?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
It can be seen in the above video, Priyanka, during her monologue forgets what she was saying and admits how she got ‘stuck’.
Amidst all this, some people on Twitter pointed out how Congress-friendly journalists seem to have taken upon themselves to help Congress form their election strategies. Almost on cue, everyone woke up to realise that Congress does not seem to have any plan for Bihar, the state which has 40 Lok Sabha constituencies.
https://twitter.com/MihirkJha/status/1107908456344764416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/padhalikha/status/1107909567004971008?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
But if you try and understand the nuances, it seems like they are building ground for alliances in states where Congress has been reduced to such a non-entity that they are fighting for survival.
There have been feelers sent out how Congress leaders are ‘upset’ that the party leadership has failed to forge alliances. This time to Bihar UPA ally, RJD.
https://twitter.com/BDUTT/status/1107149009154654209?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/DilliDurAst/status/1107148956700737536?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
More ‘neutral journalists’ joined in, with more ‘analysis’.
https://twitter.com/AdityaMenon22/status/1107924313082982401?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
See how Bihar makes an appearance again?
https://twitter.com/saifizm/status/1107916029064167424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
And so does Delhi. We had earlier reported that how after weeks of deliberations, snubbing and begging, Aam Aadmi Party and Congress may finally get into an alliance for 2019 general elections even though it is highly unlikely they will be allies for 2020 state assembly elections.
Has everyone really just woken up or is this a well-coordinated attempt to set a stage for alliances coming together? That when Congress does finally join hands with Aam Aadmi Party, it does not appear like a desperate attempt, but just a well planned out strategy? Such seemingly coordinated tweets coming from ‘friendly’ media persons in an attempt to set a narrative or ground is not something new.
This is not the first time the friendly media has come to Congress’ rescue. After winning Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh elections, when Congress President Rahul Gandhi could not zero in on the Chief Minister’s name due to various contenders, the media personalities came to Rahul Gandhi’s rescue by saying how a few days’ delay is no big deal because BJP took over a week to name Yogi Adityanath as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister.
https://twitter.com/maryashakil/status/1073221589435670528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
A half an hour later, The Wire journalist Rohini had a similar tweet.
https://twitter.com/rohini_sgh/status/1073232673592803328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Some journalists, as we know, have been known for trying to push a narrative through their tweets and articles for quite some time now.
https://twitter.com/rohini_sgh/status/828677110285807617?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/AmanKayamHai_ET/status/827514596797739008?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/vasudha_ET/status/823051650898259968?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
We all know how that turned out. Some people hopped on from one propaganda to another, but modus operandi remained the same. A well-coordinated attempt to set base for when Congress and Rahul Gandhi finally says or does something, it doesn’t really appear outlandish.
And as you could see, it is not just a one-off incident. There are many, many such well-coordinated tweets which make one question the integrity and independence of the PR-machinery masquerading as ‘journalists’.