Mass media and the Modi ‘wave’
A distinctive feature of the recently concluded 16th general elections in India was the manner in which large sections of the mass media extended wholehearted support to the candidature of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who led the rightwing, Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to power, by winning more than a majority of seats in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of Parliament in the world's largest democracy. The media, in turn, was greatly benefitted by an unprecedented advertising campaign launched to promote Mr Modi – the scale of the campaign was unparalleled in Indian history not only in the traditional media (print, radio, television and outdoor banners) but even more so in the new media (internet websites, blogs and social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter).
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An equally distinctive aspect of the elections was the support given to Mr Modi and his party by the corporate sector. Never before have big business houses and industrial groups so openly advocated the candidature of an individual in the way corporate captains extolled the virtues of Mr Modi in the run-up to the elections, the results of which were declared on 16 May. Since a substantial section of India's mass media is owned and controlled by corporate conglomerates, the corporate media can be credited with ensuring that the BJP led by Mr Modi won a resounding victory in the polls. Few political observers were expecting the BJP and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) coalition it leads to win the number of seats that were won by the party and the formation. Even the BJP was pleasantly surprised with the margin of victory. Out of the dozens of opinion and exit polls that were conducted, only one (Today's Chanakya) was able to predict the scale of the outcome.