The grand coalition in the Indian political landscape has fallen apart for all practical purposes. The overhyped grand coalition was supposed to strike a deal among the like-minded “secular” parties across all the states in the country in the run up to the Lok Sabha polls but the opposition parties have failed to stitch such an alliance in most of the states. The Congress has been snubbed by the SP and the BSP in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Similarly, the Congress-Left alliance has also fallen apart in the state of West Bengal. Most of the states will now witness multi-cornered contests defeating the very purpose for which a mahagathbandhan was to be formed.
It seems that the entire left-liberal cabal is disenchanted in the run up to the Lok Sabha elections. It is not only the political landscape in which the “secular” forces are facing discord but also the mainstream media which seems to be in deep trouble. In a surprising development, two leftist portals, AltNews and AAP mouthpiece, Janta ka Reporter locked horns.
In a tweet Pratik Sinha, one of the founders of AltNews disclosed the skirmishes between the leftist media outlet and the AAP mouthpiece, Janta ka Reporter. In his tweet, Sinha claimed that Altnews had published a story about Janta ka Reporter in which Altnews had highlighted misinformation being spread by Janta ka Reporter. It seems that the AAP mouthpiece could not fathom how Altnews could allege that misinformation was being spread by it. As per Sinha, he was blocked not only by Rifat Jawaid from his twitter handle but he was also blocked by Janta ka Reporter’s official twitter handle. The AltNews co-founder also claimed that now Janta ka Reporter has started publishing stories that AltNews researched, without any credit. It seems that Sinha is rather miffed by the way in which the attitude of Janta ka Reporter has become rather acrimonious towards Sinha and AltNews.
A while ago, after @AltNews highlighted misinformation propagated by @JantaKaReporter, @RifatJawaid blocked me from his personal handle and the JKR handle. And now they're publishing stories that @AltNews researched without credit. This despite @AltNews content being free. pic.twitter.com/DmZrU1BsG0
— Pratik Sinha (@free_thinker) March 18, 2019
In another tweet, Sinha further expressed his disappointment towards AltNews. He stated, “Also, I can understand someone blocking me from his/her personal handle. Many have. But who blocks people out from their organisation’s handle? That’s so juvenile.” It therefore seems that the leftist ecosystem is falling apart in an abrupt fashion. It bears an uncanny resemblance to the manner in which the mahagathbandhan fell apart. This does not augur well for the liberal brigade especially because the parliamentary polls are less than a month away from now. As the political mahagathbandhan has dismantled in the run up to the Lok Sabha polls, a dejected media mahagathbandhan against the BJP seems all set to meet a similar fate.
Also, I can understand someone blocking me from his/her personal handle. Many have. But who blocks people out from their organisation's handle? That's so juvenile. pic.twitter.com/kiqrS1PpXi
— Pratik Sinha (@free_thinker) March 18, 2019