Almost all exit polls have predicted that the BJP led NDA will comfortably cross the majority mark. Few exit polls which have not predicted majority for the NDA have also not come as good news for the opposition because as per these exit polls too, the BJP led NDA remains in the driver’s seat and falls just short of a majority.
The outrage in the opposition was something that did not come as much of a surprise. However, certain mainstream media outlets and Lutyens’ journalists also seemed pretty upset by the exit poll predictions. Ravish Kumar, the self-appointed guardian of media ethics in India, has emerged as the journalist at the forefront of this outrage campaign against the exit poll predictions. Recently, he claimed that the entire media (obviously excluding NDTV) has worked pretty hard for the BJP. He went on to further remark that certain media anchors and media group owners should also be included in the cabinet of the Modi government. Ravish was trying to take a sharp, sarcastic dig directed at the rest of the media outlets. However, he was not able to conceal his anger for how things were panning out in India’s political spectrum. Kumar’s comments did not come as a surprise. No matter how desperately he might claim to be holding a high moral ground, Kumar’s inherent bias and hypocrisy were badly exposed during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections campaign. The way he was spotted on the stage during a Mahagathbandhan rally and his softball interview of former JNUSU president, Kanhaiya Kumar, which seemed more like an electoral publicity stunt than an interview, made it clear that Ravish Kumar does not even try to be subtle in his political narrative.
On being asked about why Ravish Kumar (Black Screen journalist) was upset with the exit poll predictions, Rohit Sardana made it clear that he (Ravish) remains upset anyway. However, Sardana was not in a mood to spare Ravish Kumar over his baseless allegations. Replying to Ravish Kumar’s remark about media anchors being made the cabinet ministers, Rohit Sardana made a reference to the Nira Radia tapes. The Radia tapes controversy had exposed the involvement of senior journalists in the top power corridors of India during the UPA rule. As per a transcript of the conversation between Radia, a political lobbyist and senior NDTV journalist, Barkha Dutt, the latter can be understood to have assured Raida about getting Ghulam Nabi Azad, senior Congress leader about getting DMK portfolios into the Union Cabinet.
रोहित सरदाना ने रवीश को धो दिया 🤣 pic.twitter.com/pFofPLyPDf
— BALA (@erbmjha) May 21, 2019
Rohit Sardana went on to ask why media anchors were not appointed as cabinet ministers when they were so intricately involved in the process of deciding the cabinet composition. However, Sardana also made it clear that some people have a problem and it is a waste of time to comment about them. He, therefore made it clear that the best way out is not to care for what people like Ravish. It is better to let them fade into oblivion.