Through the months of India’s sprawling national election season, the country’s hundreds of cable news outlets all seemed to be trying to outdo each other: They predicted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would win, and win big.
The actual election results on June 4, however, saw his fortunes plummet so low that he secured another term only with the help of coalition partners.
It was a shocking result to many, and now India finds itself wondering why so few foresaw the popularity of an opposition movement.
Some outlets had predicted that Mr. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, or B.J.P., would win as many as 400 of the 543 available seats in Parliament, but in the end, it won only 240.
Many see the disparity as a sign of how thoroughly the prime minister had cowed the mainstream media, and how his control of the information system had grown so complete that the hype obscured voters’ true sentiments.
Persons:
Narendra Modi, Modi’s
Organizations:
Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party
Locations:
India