News Analysis India

Tag: Election

  • Fevicol ka jod? The bonhomie in Modi’s alliance dispels coalition fears

    Extending support to PM-designate Narendra Modi after the Lok Sabha poll results, Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde said the alliance of BJP and Shiv Sena of Balasaheb Thackeray’s ideal is “Fevicol ka jod” which is unbreakable. His comments came amid widespread concerns that Modi 3.0 was propped up by slippery allies who could shift their loyalties.When Modi became the PM in 2014, it was a clean break in Indian politics. The BJP had enough of its seats to not depend on any ally for survival. India had seen coalition politics for decades when coalition governments, often unstable and marked by various pulls and pushes, had become a new normal.Modi’s decisive mandate changed Indian politics. Gone were the days when allies used to hold the prime minister to ransom. During the UPA II government led by Sonia Gandhi, coalition politics was blamed for corruption and policy paralysis. Modi was free of coalition constraints and was able to shape the economy and governance according to his will. Major reforms were possible solely due to the full majority of the BJP. In fact, the BJP fell out with several of its allies, notably Shiv Sena and the Akalis. Before this Lok Sabha election, the BJP also snapped ties with the AIADMK. Many began to think that India was headed towards one-party rule.But Modi 3.0, which lacks full majority, is widely seen as a weaker dispensation dependent on TDP chief Chardrababu Naidu and JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar.

    The NDA bonhomieThe TDP was part of the BJP-led NDA but exited in 2018 when Naidu was the state’s chief minister. JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar has for a long time been in a love-hate relationship with the BJP. He has partnered and then junked the BJP several times. With this complicated background, many see the future of the NDA coalition shaky .Both Nitish and Naidu were also expected to extract their pound of flesh.

    But after the allocation of portfolios to ministers, it became clear that the allies were not very demanding. Modi kept the core ministries while allies got mostly peripheral portfolios. The NCP was an exception which showed dissatisfaction at the offer of the minister of state and rejected it.Later, Nitish Kumar, speaking at an NDA parliamentary meeting, took a swipe at the Congress-led INDIA opposition bloc, declaring his unwavering support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Kumar said, “I will be with PM Modi at all times.” He expressed confidence in the future electoral success of the NDA, saying, “Next time when you come, the people who have won here and there this time will lose next time. We are fully confident about it, In a rare gesture, Nitish even tried to touch Modi’s feet but was embraced by Modi.Today, at the oath-taking ceremony of Chadrababu Naidu, ample bonhomie was on display between Modi and Naidu and head of Jana Sena Party Pawan Kalyan. As Naidu moved away from dias towards PM Modi, he shook hands with PM Modi who presented him with a bouquet. And what followed was a long hug and a pat on the back as Naidu turned emotional.

    The ceremony was filled with emotional moments and memorable scenes. PM Modi stood with megastar Chiranjeevi and his brother Pawan Kalyan, raising their hands and hugging each other. This heartfelt moment moved Ram Charan, Chiranjeevi’s son, to tears as he watched his father and uncle share the stage with the Prime Minister.

    The uncertainty of coalition governmentsThe bonhomie on display between PM Modi and the NDA allies is contrary to what many had expected: a lot of messy haggling over portfolios and competitive wooing of parties by the NDA and the INDIA block of opposition parties. The NDA has been off to a harmonious start. However, coalition governments often spring surprises over time.

    Since the BJP has previously run coalition governments under Atal Bihari Vajpayee, it is conversant with this political culture. But it will have to learn to live with several partners, which it is no longer accustomed to. The BJP’s coalition era leaders, such as LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, have all receded to the background. Few at the top of the party today know how to manage fickle partners.

    The uncertainty and precarity of the coalition era of the past, however, may not be visible in Modi 3.0. Many think both Nitish and Naidu will be focused on their state governments and would expect financial help from the Centre.

  • NDA starts govt formation; Nitish, Tejashwi share flight: Key highlights from day after Lok Sabha election results

    Government formation preparations commenced on Wednesday, as the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) unanimously elected Narendra Modi as its leader. Concurrently, the opposition INDIA bloc indicated its intention to take necessary actions to reflect the people’s desire for a change in governance. Separate meetings were held by both ruling and opposition alliances at the Prime Minister’s residence and Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence, respectively, in the evening. These meetings followed the clear majority secured by the BJP-led NDA in the recent election results.Clear majority secured by NDA, INDIA bloc’s notable performanceThe BJP won 240 Lok Sabha seats, contributing to the NDA’s total of 293 seats. This tally comfortably surpasses the majority mark of 272 in the 543-member House, paving the way for Modi to assume office for a third consecutive term—an unprecedented achievement for any ruling alliance since 1962. Similarly, the opposition INDIA bloc is energised by its notable performance, having secured 234 seats. Nitish, Tejashwi on same flight, spark speculationAllUttar PradeshMaharashtraTamil NaduWest BengalBiharKarnatakaAndhra PradeshTelanganaKeralaMadhya PradeshRajasthanDelhiOther States

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    Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar and former Deputy CM Tejashwi Prasad Yadav of RJD were spotted on the same flight from Patna to Delhi on Wednesday, heading to their respective NDA and INDIA bloc meetings. Their presence together on the flight, with Nitish Kumar greeting his former deputy seated behind him, sparked speculation about potential shifts in political alliances. Images of the encounter circulated widely on social media, leading to discussions about Nitish possibly rejoining the INDIA bloc, which he helped form before leaving the JD(U)-RJD-Congress coalition earlier this year to rejoin the BJP-led NDA. While spokespeople for both parties dismissed the encounter as a coincidence, Tejashwi hinted at future developments, urging patience and suggesting that observers wait and see how things unfold.NDA meeting on June 5, 2024Setting the tone for his third straight term as the head of a coalition government, Prime Minister Modi chaired a meeting of the leaders of NDA parties who unanimously elected him as its leader.”Met our valued NDA partners. Ours is an alliance that will further national progress and fulfil regional aspirations. We will serve the 140 crore people of India and work towards building a Viksit Bharat,” Prime Minister Modi said on X after the meeting. At the NDA meeting at PM’s residence, TDP leader N Chandrababu Naidu, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, LJP(R) leader Chirag Paswan, JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy, Jana Sena’s Pawan Kalyan, AGP’s Atul Bora and NCP’s Praful Patel were among the 21 leaders from 16 parties present. The meeting was also attended by BJP’s Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and J P Nadda.

    Asked by a reporter if he is in the NDA, Naidu shot back,”We contested the elections together. Why do you doubt.”

    NDA MPs to formally elect Modi as leader on June 7The NDA MPs will meet on June 7 to formally elect Modi as their leader and the alliance leaders will then meet the President of India to submit their letters of support, HAM (Secular) leader and former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi said after attending the meeting.

    Modi’s oath ceremony The new government may be sworn in over the weekend, sources said, adding that there is a view to wrap up the formalities quickly to not allow any mood of uncertainty to build up, something a buoyant opposition may push.

    INDIA bloc in “wait and watch” modeWith the numbers stacked in favour of the ruling NDA, the INDIA bloc indicated a “wait and watch” approach after its old allies Nitish Kumar and N Chandrababu Naidu, who are now in the NDA, did not reciprocate to overtures and threw their weight behind Modi.

    After nearly two-hour deliberations with other INDIA bloc parties, Kharge said the opposition leaders resolved to continue their fight against the “fascist rule of the BJP led by Modi” even as they thanked the people for their overwhelming support to the bloc.

    “We will take appropriate steps at the appropriate time to realise people’s desire not to be ruled by the BJP’s government,” Kharge said while reading out a statement adopted by all the alliance constituents after the deliberations at his residence.

    He said the decision has been taken by all constituents of the INDIA bloc in one voice.

    The joint statement indicated that the alliance is keeping its options open while choosing not to stake a claim at government formation for now.

    The Congress president had convened the meeting to discuss the political situation and the election results, explore any possibility of government formation and whether to reach out to their old partners Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu.

    Kharge said that the opposition would continue to work together and would definitely stand by the promises made to the people and keep them.

    “The constituents of the INDIA bloc thank the people of India for their overwhelming support. The people’s mandate has been a befitting reply to the BJP and their politics of hate, corruption and deprivation,” Kharge said.

    “This is a mandate in defence of the Constitution of India, and against price rise, unemployment and crony capitalism and also to save democracy,” Kharge added while announcing the decision of the alliance partners.

    In his opening remarks, Kharge said the alliance welcomes all parties that share its fundamental commitment to the values enshrined in the Preamble to the Constitution and to its many provisions for economic, social and political justice.

    Kharge, flanked by former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, NCP (SCP) president Sharad Pawar, TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin and other leaders including Sharad Pawar, Sitaram Yechury, Akhilesh Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav, Champai Soren, Raghav Chadha, Sanjay Singh, D Raja and Sanjay Raut, said the grouping will continue to fight against the “fascist rule” of the BJP.

    “The people’s mandate has given a befitting reply to the BJP and their politics of hate, corruption and deprivation. This is a political and moral defeat of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Kharge said.

    A resolution was passed at the NDA meeting which said the alliance government will continue working to lift people’s living standards for the country’s all-round development while conserving its heritage.

    “We are all proud that the NDA fought the 2024 Lok Sabha polls unitedly under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and won. We all NDA leaders unanimously elect Narendra Modi as our leader,” it added.

    NDA resolves to continue development agenda under Modi’s leadershipThe resolution also said that people have seen the country being developed in every sector in the last 10 years due to the pro-people policies of the NDA government under Modi.

    Janata Dal (United) leader Sanjay Jha, who was present in the meeting, said the formalities related to the formation of the government at the Centre under Modi are expected to be over soon.

    However, it will be a different act for him this time as the BJP has fallen well short of the majority and depends on allies for the government-formation after enjoying a comfortable majority on its own in the previous two terms of his government.

    Hosting the meeting, the BJP presented a picture of collective partnership with its allies with Naidu, Kumar and Shinde seated to the left of Modi while Nadda, Singh and Shah flanked the prime minister on his right.

    In terms of their parties’ strength, Naidu, Kumar and Shinde are the three biggest NDA constituents in that order after the BJP.

    The parties of Naidu and Kumar, who together command the support of 28 MPs, have rubbished speculation on their future moves.

    Naidu has reiterated his support to the BJP, a view echoed by JD(U)’s Jha as well.

    All leaders congratulated the PM for his leadership and the strides our nation has made under him. They appreciated the PM’s hard work and efforts in nation-building, he said.

    Modi hails historic NDA mandateDuring the meeting, Modi emphasised the significance of the historic mandate for the NDA’s third consecutive government, highlighting that such a mandate hadn’t been seen in the country for over 60 years. His allies commended Modi for his vision of “Viksit Bharat” and affirmed their partnership in this endeavour. Additionally, they praised his efforts in enhancing India’s global stature and tackling poverty, expressing their commitment to sustaining these initiatives.

    Inputs from PTI

  • Third Eye: Kerala leaders’ pain in Delhi, Badruddin Ajmal in sweet mood, and Sanjay Raut’s theory

    From Boiling Point to Rain Relief: Both BJP and Congress leaderships had brought their respective party leaders from Kerala to Delhi to campaign among the Malayalee pockets of the national capital. While these Kerala functionaries did their job, most of them wilted due to Delhi’s unfamiliar simmering summer and heat wave. Done with their job, some of them said the biggest relief was the certain prospect of returning to the torrential downpour lashing across Kerala.

    Already in ‘Sweet Mood’: Looks like AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal believes in early celebrations. Confident of victory, he is preparing a list of people to whom he will send packets of sweets. Seeking re-election from Dhubri, Ajmal is pitted against Congress’ Rakibul Hussain. Ajmal, who is an MP since 2009, said that the largest packets would be sent to MLA and Raijor Dal president Akhil Gogoi and AJP leader Lurinjyoti Gogoi. Both are Congress allies. He said the packets will also be sent to Assam Congress chief Bhupen Borah.

    Who is Lying? Game on: Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut has claimed in his weekly column in ‘Saamana’ that BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis, at the behest of the PM and Amit shah, has helped Congress’ Vikas Thakre to defeat Union minister Nitin Gadkari. While BJP leaders and even Thakre have slammed Raut, BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar took on Raut with an interesting word play. He claimed that Raut always had a habit of lying, but it has now become an ‘addiction’. Mungantiwar added that due to his ‘fertile imagination’, Raut was churning out such ‘barren ideas’.

  • YouTube: The YouTube Election: Social media emerges as key player in Indian polls

    It has been a pretty hectic month for Vijeta Dahiya. The YouTube content researcher has been analysing political themes for infotainment creator Dhruv Rathee, working late nights to help him produce videos on topics concerning Election 2024.

    “Yesterday, I managed to rest a bit after working 34 hours on a fourpart election series, with very little sleep in between,” says Dahiya. The long hours are worth it, he says. “I think these videos are creating a massive on-ground impact. They bring up ideas like democracy and accountability of elected leaders.”

    Dahiya can see people’s enthusiasm reflected in the sudden surge in subscribers over the past month, along with better likes-to-views ratio and a higher number of comments on videos even when the content is critical and not celebratory.According to data from analytics firm Social Blade, Rathee gained 2.5 million subscribers on YouTube in April alone. He has 19.4 million subscribers overall, accumulated over a decade-long journey. Similarly, since January, television journaliststurned-digital news influencers such as Ravish Kumar and Abhisar Sharma, who are known for creating political content on YouTube, have seen a significant bump in monthly views on their channels—a rise of 175% and 115%, respectively, according to data from Social Blade. This is, in many ways, the YouTube election. Dahiya, a writer-filmmaker from Haryana, sees this as a break from the 2019 election for which WhatsApp was the primary channel of digital campaigning. “That period was marked by a flood of fake news and it continues to flourish, making it harder to trace who is receiving what kind of messaging,” he says.AllUttar PradeshMaharashtraTamil NaduWest BengalBiharKarnatakaAndhra PradeshTelanganaKeralaMadhya PradeshRajasthanDelhiOther StatesET BureauThe “WhatsApp Forward Era”, he says, may have inadvertently paved the way for the YouTube wave in this election. “WhatsApp remains critical for propaganda factories that prefer to work in stealth mode, but someone has to openly call out their misinformation and disinformation,” he says. This is where YouTube steps in. It has over 500 million active users in India, nearly equalling the reach of the Meta-owned WhatsApp in the country.Besides critics and dissenters of the government, political parties, too, have actively built a presence on YouTube in the past year, says Talha Rashid, political strategist and cofounder of Discourse Consulting. Many party leaders have launched YouTube channels to share live streams, rally videos, interviews and more, alongside collaborating with digital influencers for podcasts.A Rest of World report from February noted a two-to-four-fold increase in YouTube subscribers of several political leaders like Raghav Chadha (AAP), Shivraj Singh Chouhan (BJP) and Revanth Reddy (INC) in the second half of 2023. At the time of going to press, AAP had 6.26 million subscribers on its YouTube channel, 360,000 more than the ruling BJP’s 5.9 million. Congress trailed behind the two on YouTube with 4.77 million subscribers. Representatives of these political parties did not respond to ET’s request for a comment.In 2019, parties mainly utilised WhatsApp for targeted digital messaging, with one major party reportedly creating over 200,000 WhatsApp groups for this purpose, says Rashid. This time around, the focus has shifted to producing videos to shape the narrative. Instead of crafting visual and textual messages exclusively for WhatsApp forwards, there’s a trend of circulating 30-second clips from YouTube videos via the platform.

    Rashid says each general election cycle over the last decade has had a different dominant platform for political engagement. “In 2014, Facebook emerged as a central hub for political activities, with parties utilising pages and events for rallies. Facebook even issued alerts on polling day,” he recalls.

    Tube of the timesThe transition from Facebook to WhatsApp and now YouTube indicates how shifts in people’s internet habits often shape the role of social media in electoral processes. The rise of YouTube as a dominant platform for building election narratives and critiquing can be attributed to the TikTokification of content consumption and the emergence of video-editing apps for smartphones, says Meghnad S, a YouTuber who focuses on politics, society and the internet on his channel, Meghnerd. A general dissatisfaction with the coverage of important civic issues in prime-time TV news may have also contributed to a surge in news consumption on YouTube, he adds.

    Further, the deluge of WhatsApp forwards, along with the platform’s campaigns and efforts to combat fake news, might have contributed to the decline in the popularity of “ Whats App University ” . “Anecdotally, I’ve observed increased scepticism towards WhatsApp forwards, particularly in urban areas. There have been instances where members of political party-created WhatsApp groups have called out misinformation being propagated within those groups,” says Meghnad. WhatsApp offers some data to support this. Since 2019, it has set a limit on forwarding messages and channel updates to just five chats at once. In an email, WhatsApp told ET: “The limits imposed on ‘forwards’ have reduced the spread of ‘highly forwarded messages’ on WhatsApp by over 70%.” In 2022, the app added new limits for forwarding messages to groups, where messages that have the “forwarded label” can only be forwarded to one group at a time, rather than five.

    The improvement in internet speeds and the low cost of mobile data have made video browsing on YouTube and elsewhere seamless and more affordable. According to a survey by cable.co.uk covering 200 countries, the average global cost of 1 GB of mobile data has plunged by 68% from $8.8 to $2, between 2019 and 2023. India ranks 7th on the list of countries with the most affordable mobile data plans, with Israel, Italy and Fiji topping it.

    Shahana Sheikh, a PhD candidate at Yale University who is studying election campaigns, says that some of her findings from 2022 foreshadowed the current YouTube trends. “About one and a half years ago, I surveyed over 400 party functionaries from various levels in BJP and SP in Uttar Pradesh. Less than a quarter reported using YouTube for party purposes, including campaigning,” she says. In contrast, among the nearly 2,000 voters who used smartphones, surveyed in the same context, the share of daily YouTube users matched that of daily WhatsApp users. She found this to be the case for both male and female smartphone users. “Political parties seem to have understood the power of YouTube as a platform to reach voters using video content,” adds Sheikh.

    Where’s the money going?The transition is also impacting party expenditures on political advertising. Between February 5 and May 4, 2024, both BJP and Congress allocated more funds for Google Ads for videos alone, than they did for Meta Ads across ad formats. BJP spent `50.4 crore on Google Ads for video content, more than three times what it spent on Meta Ads across all formats —`15.4 crore. Similarly, Congress spent `24.5 crore on Google Ads for video content and `8.1 crore on Meta Ads across various formats during the same period. These expenditure details were obtained from Google’s Ads Transparency Center and Meta’s Ad Library Report.

    While WhatsApp has been busy constraining the virality of forwarded messages, YouTube has been proactively moving in the direction of becoming the go-to digital platform for election news and information. A March post on the Google India blog says, “For news and information related to the 2024 election, YouTube highlights high-quality content from authoritative news sources during key moments, through its ‘Top News’ and ‘Breaking News’ shelves, and news watch page.” Google has also collaborated with the Election Commission of India (ECI) to enable easy discovery of critical voting information. “YouTube shows a variety of election information panels, including on how to register to vote, how to vote and candidate information,” says the blog.

    Challenges on YoutubeWhile YouTube solves the traceability issue in terms of checking misinformation, it has its challenges, says Rohini Lakshané, technologist and interdisciplinary researcher. “On YouTube, a lot of promotional videos of political parties involve influencers who do not disclose paid partnerships. Many of them are in local languages, using cultural references that make it harder for the platform to detect misinformation,” she says.

    According to YouTube, violative content made up 0.11-0.12% of views on its platform in Q4 2023. However, Lakshané quotes a recent study from Tech Global Institute that found that 85% of political content uploaded by Indian influencers across different platforms did not disclose it as sponsored content. Further, being an open platform isn’t always an advantage. “The government, a major regulatory body for these platforms, could potentially request the closure of critical channels,” says Srinivas Kodali, an independent researcher from Hyderabad studying digitisation in India. “An open platform is thus susceptible to easy control,” he adds. Additionally, he questions whether people can access quality content on YouTube when most platforms serve as echo chambers.

    Kodali says that if the Data Protection Act is implemented before the next election, platforms may face increased pressure to combat hate speech, potentially driving most election-related content underground. While he anticipates AI and deepfakes to dominate the digital battleground in the next polling season, the impact of regulations on social media’s role in the electoral process remains uncertain.

  • Rahul Gandhi still not got courage to file his nomination from Amethi, says BJP’s Sudhanshu Trivedi – The Economic Times Video

    Rajya Sabha MP & BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi says, “Today, the first phase of Lok Sabha elections concluded. We thank the voters for casting their votes…It is clear from the feedback the part has got after the first phase of elections that the people of the country with all seriousness & perseverance are in support of PM Modi…’Nafrat ki dukaan ke koe bhi saman, prabhavi hote nahin dikhae de rahe hain’. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has still not got the courage to file his nomination from Amethi…”

  • Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury gets into altercation with TMC workers in Baharampur, watch!

    Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury gets into altercation with TMC workers in Baharampur, watch!