| Television can be dazzling, informative, immediate. And
never have we seen that better than in these elections. Suddenly, as a dreary election
came down to the finish line, television seemed to give it some energy. After months of
endless speeches, after weeks of opinion polls -- India Today's final poll projecting 298
seats for the NDA appeared to be spot on -- the results seemed to
arrive with a magical swiftness. As the
verdict arrived, television channels concentrated solely on election broadcasts, sometimes
for 48 hours non stop. The television arm of the India Today Group, TV Today, in alliance
with Doordarshan, produced India Decides for two days running on DD1 and Metro. Star News
and Zee TV provided exhaustive coverage as well, as did a host of regional channels.
Thanks to the genius of modern technology, television was
updating results by the minute. But it was more than that, it was a show, politics
unveiled as entertainment. Pundits pontificated, politicians waffled, winners grinned,
losers rummaged for excuses and psephologists justified their projections. But television
has its limitations. For all its barrage of information and fast facts it leaves no
lasting imprint on the mind. Quite simply, it falls short of delivering a wider
understanding. And that is where magazines like India Today come in.
This issue we have cast away all the immediate rhetoric
over winning and losing to give you a clearer idea of what the people's mandate has meant.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the first non-Congress prime minister to be elected to a second
term, has the working majority he craved. Good governance is now what people expect from
his alliance. Can he provide it is the question we address in this issue.
Much has also been said about the Indian electorate. But
once again it has demonstrated that it cannot be easily swayed, neither swooning
completely over the BJP nor being seduced by Sonia's dynastic appeal. If anything, the
verdict has been chastening for many. It is a good sign for democracy.
(Aroon Purie) |
