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Newspapers, TV channels hesitate to name a victor in Bengal. ‘Kaante ki takkar’

The CPI(M) and Congress barely made it to the headlines. While newspapers have written about the two parties, they have been almost completely ignored by television news.

The television exit polls have told you who will win Battleground Bengal and four other state Assembly elections. The winners’ names may surprise you.

News media coverage of the elections in West Bengal has been very careful not to declare a victor. Over the last seven weeks, TV news and leading English newspapers have diplomatically predicted, “too close to call”.

In the more colourful Hindi description on many reporters’ lips, it is a “kaante ki takkar” between ruling chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The contest between a 71–year–old slip of a woman who has ruled Bengal for 15 years and India’s most powerful and longest-serving head of government has captured the imagination of the press in India and internationally.

“‘Didi vs. Modi’: A Test for the Hindu Right in India’s Bengali Heartland,” read The New York Times headline.

What has added seriousness to the political glamour of this clash is the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). The exercise has removed over 90 lakh voters from the electoral rolls in Bengal and has been centre–stage through the election coverage. The Guardian made it the theme in its article, “Millions in India stripped of vote before critical state election, as government seeks to ‘purify’ electoral roll”. 

Analysis in Indian newspapers gives you a 360-degree snapshot of opinions. “Can BJP’s rise breach Bengal electoral wall?” asked Rahul Verma in Hindustan Times. Neerja Chowdhury in........

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