News coverage of Political

Parties in Print Media during

2014 elections: A Content
Analysis of Select English and
Hindi Dailies

By

Akanksha Shukla

Research Director
Prof. D. V. R. Murthy
Chairman, Board of Studies
Department of Journalism
and Mass Communication,
Andhra University
Visakhapatnam.

Thesis submitted to the Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, for

the award of Doctor of Philosophy in
Journalism and Mass Communication

2017
 DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the research work embodied in this thesis was

carried out by me under the expert guidance of Prof. D. V. R Murthy,

Chairman, Board of Studies, Department of Journalism and Mass

Communication, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam. The extent and

source of information derived from the existing literature has been

indicated throughout the thesis at appropriate places. The work is

original and has not been submitted in part or fully for any other

Diploma or Degree of this or any other University.

(Akanksha Shukla)
 CERTIFICATE

Certified that this is a genuine and bona-fide work of Ms. Akanksha

Shukla, Research Scholar, Department of Journalism and Mass

Communication, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, done under my

close supervision and guidance for the award of Ph.D. Degree in

Journalism and Mass Communication of Andhra University,

Visakhapatnam.

(Prof. D. V. R. Murthy)
Research Director &
Chairman, Board of Studies
Department of Journalism
and Mass Communication.
Andhra University,
Visakhapatnam.
 Acknowledgements

I express my profound sense of gratitude and indebtedness to my

Research Director, Prof. D. V. R. MURTHY, Chairman, Board of Studies,

Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Andhra

University, Visakhapatnam, for his valuable suggestion, discussion and

indefatigable help throughout my research work. I am thankful to him

for inculcating confidence to tackle the problems of varied nature. His

in-depth knowledge and experience has helped me understand the

political communication in a comprehensive manner.

I thank Dr. C. Ramakrishna, Head Department of Journalism and Mass

Communication, Prof. P. Bobby Vardhan and Dr. Y. D. Ramdas, for

their encouragement during the period of my research work. Further,

I feel indebted to Dr. P. D. Satyapal and Dr. Pragya Satyapal and

Arhanth for allowing me to be a part of their family and live with them

whenever it was needed throughout my research work.

I am extremely thankful and grateful to my father Dr. B. R. K. Shukla,

my children Annanya and Anadi for their patience throughout the

study period when I could not give them adequate attention and time.

I thank my husband Dr. Kushendra Mishra and in-laws for their

encouragement. I deeply thank my sister Kalpana and sister in-law

Shubra for being a part of my life in the most difficult moments during

the finalization of the work. Last but not the least I thank Mr.MBG

Krishna Reddy for his help.

 CONTENTS

Page No.

Chapter I Political parties And Elections in 1 - 62

India: An overview

Chapter II Evolution of political journalism in 63 - 108

India : A Literature Review

Chapter III Research Methodology 109 -131

Chapter IV Profile of News 132-158

Chapter V Political Themes: An Analysis 159 -184

Chapter VI Summary & Conclusion 185 -208

Appendix I Profile of Political parties 209 -222

Appendix II Profile of Newspapers 223 -231

Appendix III Code Sheet 232 -235

Appendix IV Correction Factor 236 -237

References 238 -253

 Chapter I

Political Parties and Elections in India:

An overview

India achieved independence from British rule on August 15, 1947

under the leadership and non-violent resistance of Mahatma Gandhi

following the Indian Independence Movement. During the three-year

period, the country drafted its constitution under the chairmanship of

Dr B R Ambedkar and became Republic on January 26, 1950. The then

Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru was eager to adopt a

democratic form of government (Ramachandra Guha, 2007:133), and

an Election Commissioner, Sukumar Sen, was appointed to conduct

elections which were held in 1952 to elect 500 representatives to the

lower house(the Lok Sabha) of the Parliament. Although many

political parties contested the elections and as many as nine political

parties were prominent among them. They were the Indian National

Congress, Socialist Party, Communist Party of India, Jana Sangh,

Dravida Khazagham, Shiromani Akali Dal, Jharkhand Party, Hindu

Mahasabha, and Ramarajya Parishad (Ramachandra Guha, 2007: 138).

Nevertheless, a number of political parties have grown over the years,

and at present, there are about 1866 political parties which are

registered with the Election Commission. Out of these 1866 parties,

only six are considered national level parties. Interestingly, between

March, 2014 and July 2015 year, as many as 239 parties have

1
registered themselves with the Election Commission. Although these

parties are registered with the Commission, they are considered to be

unrecognized political parties as they do not have the privilege of

contesting elections on a symbol of their own. They have to choose

from a list of 'free symbols' issued by the poll panel.

The present chapter is divided into two parts. Part I details a brief

history of significant political parties that were in the election fray in

2014 Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh. Uttar Pradesh is the

largest state in India which elects 80 members of parliament (Lok

Sabha). Since the present study is confined to newspapers that were

published in Uttar Pradesh, a brief profile of significant political

parties that contested the elections from Uttar Pradesh, is presented

here. In the present context, the significant political parties are four

parties that ruled the state of Uttar Pradesh, viz., Indian National

Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party, Samajwadi Party, and Bahujan

Samaj Party. Part II outlines the history of elections in India and the

role of media in democracy.

Part I: Brief profile of political parties

A political Party is a group of people who come together to contest

elections and hold power in the government. They agree on some

policies and programmes for the society with a view to promoting the

collective good. In every polity that aspires modernity, political parties

are an indispensable link between the society and the institutions of

2
the government (Brass, 1966). Just as social identities influence the

organizational form of political life, so do political organizations shape

the form of social identification (Weiner,1975). Moreover, the

emergence and functioning of the political parties are largely

determined by the structure of the society in which they origin and

operate. Sometimes cultural and ethnic diversities, forces of tribalism,

traditionalism, regionalism play powerful manifestations in giving rise

to the fragmentation and proliferation of parties in the developing

countries. Various scholars, however, have classified political parties

in different categories. According to Gunther and Diamond (2001),

political parties are divided into five broad categories: elite parties,

mass-based parties, ethnicity-based parties, electoralist parties, and

movement parties. The first type of Party is formed by the notable

personalities who mobilize support through personal resources (ex:

Socialist Party of India). The second type of Party, mass-based Party is

a nationalistic Party which has mass membership (ex: Congress Party

in India). The third type of Party is ethnicity-based Party which

consists of multi-ethnic groups (ex: African National Union), but which

is not found in India. The fourth type of political Party is electoralist

Party which is launched by individuals with an intention to contest

elections (ex: Aam Aadmi Party- Kejriwal, Congress-Tiwari, and

Shiromani Akali Dal- Mann. Lastly, the fifth type of Party is movement

Party which comes into being to achieve an issue or a cause (ex:

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Telenganan Rashtra Samiti and so on).

3
However, in the Indian context, Douglas Verney (2004) argued that

only two parties in India — Congress (I) and the BJP qualify for being

as national parties, while other parties in the country are only regional

parties. Further he divided the regional parties in India into five

groups. The first group is the Communist Left that is currently allied

with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) which has a static

support of 4.8 percent of the popular vote and is largely confined to

West Bengal, Tripura, and Kerala. Despite continuing efforts, the

Communist Left has been unable to expand much beyond these

traditional areas of strength. A second group of regional parties is

composed of the large number of ephemeral and transitional parties

that tend to disappear after one or two elections. A third group of

parties are those that are based on group appeals to religion, caste, or

tribe. Most of these parties are found only in a single state. They

include parties like the tribal-based Jharkhand Mukti Morcha in

Jharkand; the Shiromani Akali Dal, a Sikh Party in the Punjab; and the

caste-based Rashtriya Janata Dal in Bihar. A fourth group consists of

parties that focus on ethnic and regional identities such as the Telugu

Desam Party (TDP) of Andhra and various Tamil parties in the Tamil

Nadu. The fifth type is represented by potential national parties like

the Bahujan Samaj Party and Samajwadi Party that cater to the Dalit

and Otherwise Backward Class. According to Bannerjee (1984),

regional parties draw their influence from two major sources. First the

concentration of their supporters in a particular geographic area

4
which become a source of the stability they enjoy. Second they avoid

fielding candidates in constituencies where they do not have a

marginal support base. Against this background, the profiles of two

national parties, viz. Congress Party, and Bharatiya jananta Party, and

two regional parties, Samajwadi Party, and Bhahujan Samaj Party in

Uttar Pradesh are presented below. The profiles of remaining political

parties are discussed in Appendix I.

Congress Party

The Indian National Congress (INC), known as the Congress Party is

the national major political Party in India, the other being the

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Congress Party is the largest and one

of the oldest of the political parties in the world, committed to

‘democratic ideology’ (Kothari, 2012). The Congress was founded by

Indian and British members of the Theosophical Society movement,

notably A.O. Hume (Ramachandra Guha, 2007:xiv). The Party was

founded in 1885 with an objective of obtaining a greater share in

government for educated Indians and also to create a platform for

civic and political dialogue of educated Indians with the British Raj.

Indeed, it was a Scotsman, Allan Octavian Hume, who brought about

its first meeting in Bombay, with the approval of Lord Dufferin, the

then-Viceroy. Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee was the first President of

the Congress Party. The first meeting was scheduled to be held in

Pune, but due to a plague outbreak there, the meeting was later shifted

to Bombay. The first session of the INC was held from December 28–

5
31, 1885, and was attended by 72 delegates. In the pre-independence

era, prominent political figures like Dadabhai Naoroji, Bal Gangadhar

Tilak; Bipin Chandra Pal; Lala Lajpat Rai; Gopal Krishna Gokhale; and

Mohammed Ali Jinnah played a crucial role in the Party. Over a period

of time the Congress was transformed into a mass movement by

Surendranath Banerjea and Sir Henry Cotton during the partition of

Bengal in 1905. Subsequently, Mohandas Gandhi after returning from

South Africa in 1915 participated in the freedom movement. In the

1920s and ’30s the Congress became a mass movement (Kothari,

2012), led by Mohandas Gandhi who promoted nonviolent non-

cooperation to protest against the British rule. Many leaders

associated with the Party in different parts of the country led protest

movements and courted arrest fighting the foreign rule.

After Indian independence in 1947, the Congress became the

dominant political Party in the country. After the assassination of

Gandhi in 1948, and the death of Sardar Patel in 1950, Jawaharlal

Nehru played a key role to the electoral success of the Party. Nehru led

the Congress to consecutive victories in the elections of 1952, 1957

and 1962. After Nehru's death in 1964, soft-spoken Lal Bahadur

Shastri remained Prime Minister until his death in 1966, and a broad

Congress Party election opted for Indira Gandhi, over conservative

Morarji Desai. Electoral defeats in eight states in 1967 and a reduced

majority in the Lok Sabha revealed a breakdown in the Congress

system of reconciliation and consensus and set in motion a series of

6
schisms that led to a historic split in the Party in 1969 (Hardgrave and

Kochanek, 2008). Although the electoral defeats suffered by the

Congress in 1967 led to internal dissension, defections, and increased

tension between Indira Gandhi and Morarji Desai. However, a

compromise was reached by both the parties whereby Mrs. Gandhi

was unanimously re-elected Prime Minister, while Morarji Desai was

appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister. Mrs. Gandhi

sought to re-establish the pre-eminence of the Prime Minister within

the Party and hence ‘she sought to transform a factional conflict

within the Congress into a populist ideological crusade by demanding

nationalisation of major commercial banks, effective implementation

of land reforms, ceilings on urban income and property, and curbs on

industrial monopolies’ (ibid). Because of his notable lack of

enthusiasm for her new policies, the Prime Minister relieved Morarji

Desai of his finance portfolio and announced the immediate

nationalisation of all major banks (Nihal Singh, 1978)

Party split. The split in the Congress was result of growing differences

between the old guard of the Party and Indira Gandhi. Indira Gandhi

took control of the finance portfolio and passed bank nationalisation

ordinance. After the death of President Zakir Hussain in May 1969, the

Syndicate or old guard faction chose Sanjiva Reddy as the Congress

candidate for the presidentship. The Vice President of India at that

time, V.V. Giri, also filed his nomination as an independent candidate

for the post of President. Mrs Gandhi openly supported Mr. Giri
7
against Mr. Reddy. After the victory of Mr. Giri, Mrs. Gandhi was

served with a show-cause notice for her indiscipline. She did not reply

which led to the Party split in late 1969(Nihal Singh, 1978). The

conflict led to a split, and Indira launched a separate INC. Initially this

Party was known as Congress (R), but it soon came to be generally

known as the New Congress. The official Party became the Indian

National Congress (Organization) (INC (O)) led by Kamaraj. It was

informally called the Old Congress and retained the Party symbol of a

pair of bullocks carrying a yoke. Mrs. Gandhi's breakaway faction was

given a new symbol of a cow with suckling calf by the Election

Commission as the Party election symbol (Nihal Singh, 1978). As a

result of the split, the Indira-led Congress lost its majority in the Lok

Sabha and became dependent upon the support of the Communist

Party of India (CPI) and the Dravida Munnetra Khazhagam. (DMK)

With a resolve to secure a new mandate, the Prime Minister dissolved

the Lok Sabha and called for a fresh election for March 1971. The

campaign was aimed at attracting the support of disadvantaged

groups, especially the Scheduled Castes and Tribes, Muslims, and the

young. Mrs. Gandhi banked upon a slogan: Garibi Hatao, (Abolish

Poverty). In their attempt to personalize the campaign, opposition

parties responded with their own slogan of Indira Hatao, the removal

of Mrs. Gandhi. The results of the 1971 elections were known as the

Indira wave. With 44 percent of the vote, Mrs. Gandhi’s Party won 352

of the 518 seats in the Lok Sabha. In March 1972 she held new

8
elections for the legislative assemblies in all but four states and won a

second landslide victory. Although the Congress had won 70 percent

of assembly seats, it received only 48 percent of the popular vote. On

the surface, Indira Gandhi appeared to have restored the pattern of

one-Party dominance that had characterized the Nehru era. In

practice, however, the new pattern of dominance was very different

and contributed to a severe political crisis in the midst of the greatest

economic crisis in post-independence India (Ramachandra Guha,

2007). Under Indira Gandhi’s leadership, authority within both the

Party became highly “centralized and family-centered political

organization” (Zoya Hasan, 2014). At the Center, cabinet positions

were regularly reshuffled to keep possible rivals off balance; key

portfolios were held directly by the Prime Minister; and from 1969 to

1977 the Congress Party had five different Presidents. Mrs. Gandhi

also sought to transform the social base of Congress support by

recruiting Party members from the weaker sections of society—youth,

women, Muslims, Scheduled Castes and Tribes, and the poor. These

newly mobilised sectors, however, were too weak to wrest control of

the Party organization from formerly dominant Party factions.

The Emergency (1975–77). Although the Indira wave succeeded, she

failed to deal with the troubled economy. The 1971 Bangladesh war, a

severe drought in 1972–73, food shortages, spiraling prices, and the

world energy crisis of 1973, forced the country to suffer, and

deepened economic turmoil. Further, Congress rule especially in the

9
states was ineffective. Processions and demonstrations took place

almost daily, university campuses were torn by indiscipline, and a

wave of strikes threatened the economy with chaos, especially the

1974 railway strike. The situation exploded in Gujarat in 1974, with

widespread student agitation against the Congress government of the

state resulting in President’s Rule. In Bihar, as discontent erupted into

mass agitation, Sarvodaya leader Jayaprakash Narayan (JP), assumed

leadership of the movement against the corrupt Congress government

and he called for a ‘total revolution’ for the fundamental

transformation of Indian society (Ramachandra Guha, 2007,

Singh,2013). In this context, in June 1975, Indira Gandhi suffered two

political blows. On June 12, Mrs Gandhi was found guilty by the High

Court of Allahabad of election malpractice of violating the election

code. The High Court decision was the result of charges of corrupt

election practices brought against Mrs. Gandhi for actions that had

taken place during the 1971 elections (Kuldip Nayar, 1978, Bipin

Chandra, 2003).

Although the Court dismissed the more serious charges of bribery and

intimidation, it found the then Prime Minister guilty of two relatively

minor technical violations of the election law, declared her election in

1971 invalid, and barred her from holding any office for a period of six

years. In order to permit an appeal to the Supreme Court, however,

the Court sentence was stayed for 20 days. The Court ruling was

followed by a second blow a day later when the Congress suffered a

10
massive defeat in the state assembly elections in Gujarat. The

combined court verdict and the Congress defeat in Gujarat led major

opposition parties, national newspapers, and even a few members of

her own Party demand Mrs. Gandhi to step down as Prime Minister,

but she refused. The political situation further worsened when on June

24 Justice V R Krishna Iyer, the vacation judge of the Supreme Court,

rejected the Prime Minister’s request for a ‘‘complete and absolute’’

stay of the High Court judgment against her. Instead, he granted a

conditional stay until the Court could convene to consider her appeal.

He ruled that Mrs. Gandhi could remain as Prime Minister, but she

could neither vote nor participate in the proceedings of Parliament.

On the following evening, June 25, a mass rally was held on the

Ramlila festival grounds in New Delhi by leaders of the opposition,

including Jayaprakash Narayan and Morarji Desai, who called for a

nationwide movement to unseat the Prime Minister. Denouncing

Indira Gandhi as ‘‘moving toward dictatorship and fascism,’’

Jayaprakash Narayan called upon the people of India to resist the

corrupt and illegitimate government. As he had done before, he urged

the police and the armed forces to refuse to obey ‘‘illegal and

immoral’’ orders and to uphold the Constitution against those who

would destroy it. That night, across the city in the home of the Prime

Minister, final plans were made for the declaration of emergency

(Kuldip Nayar, 1978, 2013). No Cabinet member had been consulted,

and even the Home Minister was not informed until late on the night

11
of June 25, 1975. On the morning of June 26, the Government of India

assumed extraordinary emergency powers under Clause (1), Article

352 of the Indian Constitution.

Earlier that morning, before the Proclamation was issued, the

principal leaders of the opposition were arrested under the

Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA)—676 people by the

official tally. On orders of the government, at 2:00 a.m., electricity to

the major newspapers in New Delhi was also cut off, imposing a news

blackout on the city. At 8:00 a.m. Indira Gandhi addressed the nation

on All-India Radio (see details in Kuldip Nayar, 1978). However, after

vehement criticism from all quarters, and the opposition Emergency

was lifted was lifted on March 20, 1977, and the rules of the

emergency were relaxed, press censorship lifted, public meetings

permitted, and thousands of opposition politicians released from jails.

Indira Gandhi unexpectedly announced that parliamentary elections

in March. Soon after the announcement, two decisive events upset

Mrs. Gandhi’s calculations. The first was the formation of the

opposition Janata Party (Ramchandra Guha, 2007). Mrs. Gandhi was

even less prepared for her second jolt—the defection of Jagjivan Ram

from the Congress fold. Ram, a senior member of the Cabinet and the

leader of the weaker sections had long nursed ambition to be Prime

Minister. Having seen his power eroded during the emergency, he

resigned from the government; denounced Indira Gandhi for the

destruction of democracy in India; and formed his own Party, the

12
Congress for Democracy (CFD). The combination of opposition unity

and Congress defections posed a serious threat to continued Congress

dominance. The CFD and the Janata Party agreed on common

candidates and, in effect, waged the campaign as one Party. But Mrs.

Gandhi’s expectation to stage a come-back was reversed and the

Congress was able to win only 154 seats and the Janata and its allies

won an absolute majority of 298 out of the 542 seats in Parliament

(Graham, 2012)

The results led to the split again in January 1978 and a breakaway

group of Congress (I)—for Indira—was formed. The March 1978

assembly elections in five states gave Indira Gandhi her first

opportunity to test her claim of popular support and attempt a

political comeback. In the southern states of Karnataka and Andhra

Pradesh where popular chief ministers sided with Mrs. Gandhi at the

time of the split, the Congress (I) won overwhelming majorities.

Overall, the Congress (I) won 394 seats in the five states, compared to

271 for Janata and 147 for the old Congress. Eight months later, in

November 1978, Indira Gandhi was elected to Parliament in a by-

election, returned to New Delhi and took her seat in Parliament as

leader of the opposition (Hardgrave and Kochanek, 2008). Yet, Mrs.

Gandhi, was facing problems within her Party while attempts to expel

her from Parliament, and efforts to jail her for misconduct and abuse

of authority were continuing. On the other hand, the Janata victory in

1977 had been greeted with euphoria and hailed as a democratic

13
revolution. Twenty-eight months later, however, amidst drift,

discontent, and defection, the Janata government collapsed. In its

place, an uneasy coalition came to power under Charan Singh, leader

of the breakaway Lok Dal faction. Less than one month later, unable to

face a parliamentary vote of no confidence, Singh submitted his

resignation as Prime Minister, and the President called for new

elections. Both the Janata Party and the Congress Party were torn by

schism, the prospect of any single Party emerging with a

parliamentary majority appeared bleak. Mrs. Gandhi alone

commanded the status of an all-India leader. In 1980 elections, Mrs.

Gandhi restored Congress (I) dominance by winning 351 seats, a two-

thirds majority, and 43 percent of the popular vote(Graham,2012).

Rise of Rajiv Gandhi. Indira Gandhi’s return to power brought back to

the Congress fold many who had defected from the Party during its

time in the political wilderness. In February 1980, Mrs. Gandhi re-

enforced her mandate. Following the 1977 precedent set by the Janata

Party in dismissing Congress state governments on the ground that

they had lost their mandate, Mrs. Gandhi instructed the President to

dissolve nine opposition-controlled state assemblies. The state

elections provided an opportunity for Sanjay Gandhi, her son who had

been instrumental in engineering his mother’s return to power, to

establish his own independent base of political power. Securing 60

percent of the seats, the Congress (I) took power in eight of the nine

states. On June 23, 1980, Sanjay Gandhi, heir apparent to the prime

14
ministership of India, died at the age of 33, in a crash of a single-

engine stunt plane he piloted. Deeply shaken by her son’s death, Indira

Gandhi seemed to lose interest in the affairs of both Party and state.

After some six months, she gradually regained control of the events,

with her elder son, Rajiv. With no experience in politics, it was only

upon the death of Sanjay that Rajiv made his reluctant entry into

public life (Ramachandra Guha, 2007). In 1981 Rajiv was elected to

Parliament from Amethi, Sanjay’s constituency in Uttar Pradesh. Six

months later, he accepted leadership of the Youth Congress. Following

Sanjay’s death, Mrs. Gandhi began to ease out of some of her more

serious liabilities in the states and increasingly distanced members of

the Sanjay brigade from power and influence (Sitapati, 2016). In

March 1982 the most disgruntled among them Maneka Gandhi,

Sanjay’s young widow, challenged the Party leadership. In a dramatic

confrontation with her mother-in-law, Maneka was thrown out of the

house. In the following months, Maneka formed her own political

Party, the Rashtriya Sanjay Manch. Against the backdrop of Party

disarray, Congress looked to the next parliamentary elections with

increasing apprehension. Indira Gandhi’s imperial style had weakened

the Congress organization, fuelled regional resentment, and spawned

the rise of local state parties (Hardgrave and Kochanek, 2008)

On the morning of October 31, 1984, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi

was assassinated by two Sikh members of her security guard. Within

hours of Mrs. Gandhi’s death, Rajiv Gandhi, at the age of 40, was sworn

15
in as Prime Minister. It was widely believed that only Rajiv, as bearer

of the Gandhi name and the Nehru legacy, could lead the Congress to

victory in the forthcoming elections. Adhering to the schedule believed

to have been set before his mother’s death, Rajiv announced that

parliamentary elections would be held on December 24 (Sitapati,

2016).

Rajiv in office. Less than two months after taking office as the

youngest Prime Minister to serve India, Rajiv Gandhi won a massive

electoral victory. The massive victory at the polls in December 1984

appeared to have given him sufficient reassurance and hence

promised to clean up public life. Settlement of the Punjab and Assam

problems, which his mother had mishandled, became one of his

highest policy priorities. The first major action taken by the new

government was the enactment of an anti-defection1 bill, passed

unanimously by both houses of Parliament in January 1985 as the 52

Amendment to the Constitution. The legislation was designed to clean

up public life and, in the words of Rajiv Gandhi, put an end to ‘‘politics

without principles.’’ Rajiv Gandhi’s initiative in passing the long-

promised anti-defection law2 was hailed as ushering in a new era of

1
Defections, or ‘‘floor-crossings,’’ had long been the bane of Indian politics, with
more than 2,700 recorded cases since 1967, most within the state assemblies. As
the dominant Party, the Congress had been the principal beneficiary, with as many
as 1,900 defections to its ranks.
2 The act, however, also gave Rajiv a powerful weapon to maintain discipline
within his own Party. Under the Amendment, which applied to both Parliament
and the state assemblies, legislators would lose their seat if they quit their Party to
join another; if, without prior permission or subsequent approval, they voted or
abstained from voting in the house ‘‘contrary to any direction’’ issued by the
16
politics (Sitapati, 2016). Like his mother’s victory in 1972, Rajiv’s

massive mandate in the December 1984 Lok Sabha elections gave him

considerable freedom in selecting Congress candidates for the March

1985 Assembly elections in 11 states and one of the Union

Territories(Hardgrave and Kochanek,2008).

Further, Rajiv continued his conciliatory approach in an attempt to

solve ethnic and religious conflicts in the Punjab and Assam. In July

1985, he signed an accord with Akali president Longowal on the

Punjab, and a month later reached an agreement with students in

Assam to end their anti-immigration agitation. Rajiv’s reform agenda

also embraced a programme to make the economy more dynamic,

rejuvenate the Congress (I), and prepare India for the 21st century.

Popular euphoria reached an all-time high as Rajiv was hailed as the

messiah of a new, modern India and as a man of courage, integrity,

and vision (Ramachnadra Guha, 2007). However, the euphoria did not

last. By 1986 Rajiv’s apparent solutions of India’s seemingly

intractable problems began to unravel. The scheduled transfer of

Chandigarh to the Punjab, which was to take place on January 26,

1986, was deferred. Communal violence erupted over the Babri Masjid

in Ayodhya; Rajiv was accused of placating Muslims by supporting a

political Party to which they belong; or if they were expelled from their Party ‘‘in
accordance with the procedure established by the Constitution, rules, or
regulations’’ of such Party. Splits were permissible only if it involved at least one-
third of the legislative Party. Mergers would require two-thirds approval (Hargrave
and Kochanek, 2008).

17
bill that would reverse the 1985 Shah Bano case and limit the financial

responsibility of Muslim men in divorce cases; and violence intensified

in the Punjab. One of the few bright spots was the Mizoram Accord of

July 26, 1986, which ended a 20-year insurgency in the Northeast.

Even this accomplishment was offset by renewed trouble in Kashmir

and a Gurkha agitation in West Bengal for the creation of a separate

state of Gurkhaland.

As Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi centralized power to an even greater

extent. The Cabinet was subject to frequent changes, and power

became concentrated in the hands of a very small, narrowly based

group of inexperienced personal advisors in the Prime Minister’s

Secretariat (Yadav and Palshikar, 2014). In less than three years, the

Union Cabinet was reshuffled at least a dozen times, and each change

was accompanied by a promise that additional adjustments would

follow. Every Cabinet minister was transferred at least once, and some

ministers changed jobs four times. No one was in office long enough to

learn the job or to take any meaningful action. While Rajiv’s relations

with the President created a credibility crisis, his handling of a series

of corruption scandals substantially tarnished his image of

incorruptibility. Rajiv had given V. P. Singh, his new Finance Minister,

a broad mandate to weed out corruption and reduce the size of the

black economy. Singh attempted to implement this mandate by cutting

tax rates while simultaneously launching a major enforcement effort.

Tax raids, court cases, and the arrest of leading industrialists became

18
the hallmarks of his new regime. V. P. Singh’s rigorous enforcement

efforts generated enormous resentment among India’s top

industrialists (Hardgrave and Kochanek, 2008). On January 24, 1987,

Singh was suddenly removed as Finance Minister and made Minister

of Defense. On April 9, 1987, Singh announced that he had ordered an

inquiry into an alleged commission paid on the purchase of two

submarines from Howaldt Deutsche Werke (HDW) of Kiel, West

Germany (Verghese, 2005). In response to repeated attacks Singh

resigned from the Cabinet on April 12, 1987, and was later expelled

from the Congress Party. Further, on April 15, 1987, a state-owned

Swedish radio station broadcast a story alleging that a commission of

$4.92 million had been paid to Indian intermediaries on a $1.3 billion

defense contract to purchase Swedish Bofors 155-mm howitzers (See

details in Verghese, 2005). Later reports confirmed the payment of an

estimated $38 million in commissions. When Rajiv and his Cabinet

denounced the report as part of a foreign conspiracy to destabilize

India, the Swedish radio station not only repeated the charge, but

added that it had documentary proof that four payments were made

into a Swiss bank account code named Lotus. Rajiv’s repeated denials

and refusal to cooperate with any further investigation led to the

resignation of Arun Singh, Minister of Defense Production and one of

Rajiv’s closest advisors. In an effort to defuse the crisis, Rajiv agreed to

appoint a Congress-dominated parliamentary committee to

investigate the charges. In addition, for the first time since

19
independence an Indian Prime Minister felt compelled to make a

disclaimer before Parliament that neither he nor his family had been

involved in any cases of corruption (Ramachandra Guha, 2007).

Although Rajiv survived the political crisis of the summer of 1987, the

issues of alleged corruption and of relations with the President of

India continued to haunt him. New disclosures involving his relations

with the former President of India and charges of corruption,

however, blunted his attempts to regain lost image , gave new life to

India’s divided opposition, and threatened to undermine his political

recovery (Verghese, 2005). In late February 1988, former President

Zail Singh publicly claimed he had been offered money and the

political support from dissident Congress MPs and ministers to

contest for re-election but had refused (Sitapati, 2016). These charges

breathed new life into India’s divided opposition, and in late January

1989 the Congress (I) suffered a crushing defeat in the key South

Indian state of Tamil Nadu (Hardgrave and Kochanek,2008). The

defeat was especially humiliating for Rajiv because of the highly

visible and direct role that he played in the campaign. By the summer

of 1989, the defense kickback scandals that had plagued Rajiv since

1987 surfaced once again. In May the opposition in the Indian

Parliament charged the Congress (I) with stalling the publication of a

report by its Public Accounts Committee on the purchase of West

German submarines by the Indian navy. Another issue arose in July

when the Controller and Auditor General issued a report highly critical

20
of the government’s handling of the defense contract to purchase

Swedish Bofors howitzers. Charging that the report was a clear

indictment of the Congress (I) and Rajiv, the opposition stalled the

proceedings of Parliament for three days, demanded Rajiv’s

resignation, and shouted ‘‘Rajiv is a thief” (Verghese, 2005).

The Congress (I) entered the fray of November 1989 Lok Sabha

elections in a severely weakened position. Rajiv’s tarnished image, the

absence of a major policy success, kickback scandals, and Party

factionalism, combined with a newly formed National Front of

opposition parties, produced a stunning defeat for the Congress (I).

The defeat of the Congress (I) was accompanied by a hung Parliament.

For the first time since independence, no single Party was able to

secure a majority in the Lok Sabha. The National Front, a group of

centrist and regional parties, was finally able to cobble together a

minority government under the leadership of V. P. Singh with the

support of the Communists and the BJP. The National Front became

embroiled in factional conflict and V. P. Singh was forced to resign

after less than a year in office (Chakravarty and Hazra, 2016). A new

government led by Chandra Shekhar was formed with the support of

the Congress (I). However, Chandra Shekhar’s government was unable

to survive and was forced to resign in March 1991. India was forced to

go to the polls for a second time in less than two years. Although no

Party was expected to secure a clear majority in the 1991 Lok Sabha

21
elections, public opinion polls pointed to the Congress (I) likely win as

the largest Party(Hardgrave and Kochanek,2008).

On May 21, 1991 Rajiv was assassinated by a Sri Lankan Tamil

guerrilla, probably in retribution for his role in sending Indian troops

to Sri Lanka in 1987. In the wake of Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination, and

in fear of widespread violence, the Election Commission postponed

the second and third phases of voting until June 12 and 15

respectively. The assassination had a dramatic effect on the election

results. In the first round of voting held prior to the assassination,

polls showed a growing shift of support away from the Congress (I). In

the second and third rounds that followed the assassination, however,

there was a major swing of sympathy votes in favour of the Congress

(I). The Party won 227 seats—just 29 seats short of a majority. On

June 21, Narasimha Rao was sworn in as Prime Minister and given

four weeks to prove in a vote of confidence that the Congress (I) could

command the parliamentary support necessary to govern. The vote of

confidence came on July 15. Since no Party was prepared to face new

elections, the Congress won the vote of confidence when 112 National

Front and Left Front MPs abstained and opposition parties indicated a

willingness to support the government on an issue-by-issue basis

(Sanjay Baru, 2016, Sitapati, 2016). Although he held a tenuous hold

over his own Party and headed a minority government, Narasimha

Rao began his term quite well and his first 18 months in office were

impressive. His non-assertive political style and willingness to

22
accommodate appeared to be ideal leadership qualities to lead a

minority government and to rejuvenate the post-dynastic Congress

(Hardgrave and Kochanek, 2008).

With the passage of time, however, Rao’s authority began to erode.

The exposure of a series of corruption scandals, his handling of the

Ayodhya crisis, and an increasingly indecisive style diminished his

stature and support. Rao’s problems began in April 1992 when news

broke of a major stock market scam involving a massive diversion of

bank treasury funds (Sitapati, 2016). It was followed by the forced

resignation of one of Rao’s ministers for passing on an anonymous

letter to the Swiss government suggesting that the Bofors payoff

investigation did not enjoy much of a priority with the government of

India. These incidents were followed by the publication of Central

Bureau of Investigation (CBI) documents in a major news magazine

implicating Rao in a major corruption scandal. Even more devastating

than the charges of corruption was Rao’s poor management of the

Ayodhya crisis (Ramachandra Guha, 2007). He seemed to be

convinced that he could negotiate a satisfactory solution to the

problem. In the midst of the negotiations, however, thousands of

militant Hindus marched on Ayodhya and on December 6, 1992,

stormed the mosque and demolished it. As communal riots spread

across the country, however, Rao was forced to act (Sanjay Baru,

2016). He banned five communal organizations, dismissed four BJP-

led state governments, and dissolved the BJP-controlled legislative

23
assemblies. In addition, the challenge to Rao’s leadership came from

Arjun Singh and a group of pro-Rajiv dissidents who were unhappy

with Rao’s handling of the Ayodhya crisis. The growing charges of

corruption in the Rao government added to the friction. Although Rao

was able to contain the challenge of the dissidents, his leadership

position within the Party was gradually undermined by a series of

state assembly defeats in November 1993 and November– December

1994 (Sitapati, 2016).

Although Rao’s control of the Party machinery enabled him to defeat

the challenge to his leadership, the clash led to another split in the

Party (Sanjay Baru, 2014). Dissidents led by Arjun Singh resigned

from the Congress (I) and later launched a new Party in May 1995.

Having marginalized his opponents, Rao moved quickly to try to

regain the political initiative. Rao’s recovery, however, proved to be

short-lived. In March 1995 the Congress (I) suffered another series of

state assembly election defeats and Rao’s enemies saw a chance to

renew their assault on his leadership. Although Rao tried to portray

himself as a corruption-buster by forcing several of his accused

ministers to resign, in late 1996 he himself became implicated when

his name came up during the police investigation into the scandal

(Sitapati, 2016). As India went to the polls in May–June 1996 the

prospects for the Congress (I) looked bleak. The elections marked the

first time since independence that the Congress (I) had to go to the

polls without a member of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty at the helm; the

24
Party was divided as Rao’s alliance strategy had heightened internal

factionalism and led to a large number of defections and 5 years of

Congress rule had reignited anti-Congress opposition unity. On the eve

of the elections a group of leftist and regional opposition parties came

together to form a National Front-Left Front coalition that attacked

Rao for corruption and called his economic reform policies anti-poor

and anti national. Although the elections resulted in a hung

Parliament, the Congress (I) suffered the worst defeat in its history.

The Congress (I) was able to win only 140 seats. The 14-Party United

Front government that was cobbled together, however, had to depend

on Congress (I) support to remain in power. The post-election period

proved to be especially devastating to Narashima Rao. Rao’s position

as leader of the Congress (I) was severely undermined by the Party’s

electoral defeat and by a tarnished past that began to catch up with

him. In the months following the 1996 elections, a variety of

corruption charges were levied against Rao and he became the first

former Prime Minister in Indian history to appear before a court of

law for trial (Hardgrave and Kochanek, 2008). These corruption cases

involved charges of having bribed four MPs to gain their support on a

no-confidence motion against the government in 1993. As a result of

these corruption charges, Rao was forced to resign as Congress (I)

President and was replaced in September 1996 by Sitaram Kesri. A

few months later Rao was also forced to resign as Leader of the

Congress (I) Parliamentary Party. At the age of 77, Sitaram Kesri was

25
not prepared to wait for the 14-Party United Front coalition to

collapse on its own weight. He immediately embarked upon an effort

to win back Party defectors, strengthen his hold over the Congress (I),

topple the United Front government and become Prime Minister.

Suspecting that Prime Minister H. D. Devi Gowda was conspiring with

Narasimha Rao against him, Kesri attacked Gowda for being

overzealous in pursuing corruption cases against Congress (I) leaders

and suddenly withdrew Congress (I) support from the United Front

government (Kidwai, 2011). As a result of the withdrawal of Congress

(I) support, Gowda lost a vote of confidence on April 11, 1997, and

was forced to resign. After a prolonged crisis the Congress (I) was

forced to concur with the United Front and allow the coalition to select

a new leader that would be more acceptable to the Congress (I). On

April 22, the United Front elected I. K. Gujral as Prime Minister. who

survived for only a few months and was forced to resign on November

30, 1997, when the Congress (I) again withdrew support. The new

crisis erupted when a commission that had been appointed to

investigate the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi issued a report

implicating the DMK, a key constituent of the United Front, in the

assassination. The Congress (I) immediately demanded that the DMK

be ousted from the coalition. When the United Front refused, the

Congress (I) withdrew its support on November 28, 1997; the

government collapsed and the country once again went to the polls.

26
Return of Gandhi family. The climate changed dramatically in early

January 1998 when Sonia Gandhi agreed to campaign on behalf of the

Congress (I). Her decision had the immediate effect of stemming the

tide of Congress (I) defections, raising Party morale, increasing

financial flows to the Party, and blunting the seemingly irreversible

pro-BJP electoral wave. Sonia’s election rallies attracted large crowds

and appeared to alter the outcome of the elections. The Sonia effect

had only a limited impact on electoral fortunes of Congress (I),

however, as the large campaign crowds she attracted failed to

translate into increased votes for the Party. Still, the 1998 election

results seemed to have slowed, at least temporarily, the decline of the

Congress (I) that had begun in 1989. The Party was able to win 141

seats (Yadav and Palshikar, 2014).

The election also brought a return of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty when

following the polls, the 52-year-old Italian-born Sonia Gandhi replaced

Sitaram Kesri as President of the Congress (I). Sonia immediately

began a major attempt to rebuild the Congress (I) organization, win

back Party dissidents, and develop plans to bring together a coalition

capable of replacing the highly unstable 14-Party BJP government.

Sonia did possess a variety of positive strengths that gradually

enabled her to consolidate her position. She enjoyed a high degree of

personal integrity, proved to be a fast learner, consulted widely, was

decisive, and over time came to master the complexities of Indian

politics. Although Sonia’s leadership provided the glue to keep the

27
Party together, she seemed incapable of rebuilding it. Sonia inherited a

Party organization dominated by power brokers and corrupt Party

bosses who had been in power for decades (Kidwai, 2011). She also

inherited a Party whose secular image had been tarnished by decades

of Indira, Rajiv, and Rao’s soft Hindutva policies that attempted to

cater to Hindu voters and whose center-left image had been

undermined by its economic reforms of 1991(Hardgrave and

Kochanek,2008). These organizational and policy problems were

further compounded by Sonia’s botched efforts at toppling the BJP

coalition government in April 1999 and by her failure to muster the

necessary majority to replace it. This failed bid to win power made her

appear inept and power hungry and was followed by the worst defeat

in the Party’s history in the 1999 Lok Sabha elections, when the Party

was able to win only 114 seats. Sonia’s political ineptitude, the poor

showing of the Congress (I) in the 1999 elections, and continued

uneasiness over her foreign origins were reinforced by a growing

sense of resentment within the Party over Sonia’s coterie rule, her

failure to consult with senior Congress leaders, and her failure to

articulate a coherent policy or vision for the Party (Ramchandra Guha,

2007) . By the summer of 2002, popular opinion polls and a

resurgence of support for the Congress (I) revealed a continuing

erosion of popular support for the BJP-led NDA government.

Following its victory in the 1999 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP had lost

power in five of the eight states it had controlled. By contrast, under

28
Sonia Gandhi’s leadership, the Congress (I) had increased its control

from five states in March 1998 to 16 of India’s 28 state governments in

2002 (Yadav and Palshikar, 2014). In 1998 the shy, inexperienced

Sonia Gandhi merely read speeches prepared by others, her speaking

style was awkward and stilted, and her speeches lacked real substance

(Hardgrave and Kochanek, 2008). By 2002 she pored over files on

major policy issues, was more capable of speaking extemporaneously

from notes, and her speeches were more substantive and complex.

Her change in style was accompanied by a greater grasp of substance.

She began to play a major role as leader of the opposition in the Lok

Sabha, became more independent of her coterie of advisors, no longer

relied on any one person for advice, consulted a wide range of

specialists on various issues, and began to act more independently. In

an effort to reinvigorate the Party organization Sonia called a series of

national level conferences and hired an independent consultant to

recommend changes in the Party organization designed to enhance its

performance. The national level conferences included a three-day

meeting of block and district level Congress (I) leaders in March 2003

and a conference of Congress (I) chief ministers in June. At the block

and district Party meetings in March, Sonia attended all sessions of the

conference and later emphasised the Party’s renewed commitment to

poverty reduction, farmers, and oppressed communities. The most

important action taken by the chief ministers’ conference in June was

to further clarify the Congress Party’s 1998 policy toward the

29
formation of alliances (Chakravarthy and Hazra, 2016). This

clarification of Congress (I) alliance strategy drew upon a report

prepared by a group of consultants that had concluded that the

Congress (I) could win a clear majority of 293 seats in the Lok Sabha if

it negotiated the right set of strategic alliances with regional

parties(Hardgrave and Kochanek,2008). Most importantly, the

Congress (I) entered into a series of strategic alliances with state and

caste parties in critical states to enhance its electoral prospects (Yadav

and Palshikar, 2014). Despite Sonia’s initiatives, most political pundits

and public opinion polls predicted a Congress (I) defeat in the April–

May 2004 national elections, which would be its fourth time in a row

since 1991. The first signs of a possible election upset came in late

April 2004 when new public opinion polls indicated that the Congress

(I) and its allies were gaining momentum. Conversely, the BJP suffered

a major defeat and the Congress (I) was returned to power after 8

years in opposition when the communist Left-Front agreed to support

the coalition based on a Common Minimum Program. Following its

victory, the Congress (I) and its allies formed a coalition government

called the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) under the leadership of

Manmohan Singh. Manmohan Singh became the first nominated

Congress Party Prime Minister of India since independence. His

appointment, however, raised the fundamental issue of dual

leadership and the relationship between Party and government.

Although the relationship between Sonia and Manmohan Singh was

30
far from equal, the two leaders appeared to have worked out a

successful power-sharing arrangement (See details in Sanjay Baru,

2014).

Aware of the dignity of the Prime Minister, Sonia provided Manmohan

Singh considerable leeway in running the affairs of the government. As

Congress President, Sonia became the chairman of the National

Advisory Council (NAC), a coalition coordinating body designed to

ensure the smooth functioning of the alliance. Sonia Gandhi and

Manmohan Singh developed a complex consultative process that

included frequent meetings, private briefings, and informal contacts.

Sonia projected herself as chairman of the UPA and not the Congress

President. Sonia Gandhi’s leadership of the coalition, however,

provoked a sudden crisis when it was determined that she was in

violation of the law by holding an ‘office of profit’ as chairman of the

NAC, which had provided her with a government staff and office(ibid).

She defused the crisis by resigning as chairman of the NAC and as a

Member of Parliament only to win a massive victory in a new by-

election in 2006. The Party came back to power in 2009 elections and

Manmohan Singh continued to be the prime minister. However, the

Congress Party lost 2014 elections and won 44 seats, the historic low

in the Party’s long existence. Zoya Hasan (2014) comments: “Judging

by its past history, it would be hasty to write off the Congress. Yet, it

would be unwise to underestimate the seriousness of the political

challenges that confront it as this point in the course of India’s

31
democracy. In the long road ahead, the Congress will have to rebuild

itself as a credible alternative to the BJP, repositioning it as genuinely

left-of-centre Party”.

Bharatiya Janata Party

The BJP was founded in April 1980 as a reincarnation of the old Jana

Sangh, which had been incorporated into the Janata Party in 1977.

With the break-up of the Janata Party government in 1979, a group of

former Jana Sangh leaders endeavoured to build a new political Party

that would attract wider popular appeal (Achin Vanaik, 2012). The

new Party remained closely allied with the larger Hindu nationalist

movement and relied heavily on the Rashtria Swayam Sevak Sangh

(RSS) and its cadre for political and organizational support. Perhaps

the most controversial issue confronting the newly created Party,

however, was its close association and identity with the RSS (ibid). In

1965 the Jana Sangh officially adopted the doctrine of Integral

Humanism as its guiding principle. The concept of Integral Humanism 3

was developed by Deendayal Upadhyaya, an RSS organizer, and drew

heavily on Gandhian principles of swadeshi, sarvodaya (welfare for

all), decentralization, and the morality of politics (Graham, 2012).

As a result of these changes in Party doctrine, the Jana Sangh was

welcomed by other opposition parties as an acceptable coalition

3
The concept of Integral Humanism was designed to expand the Jana Sangh’s
appeal, strengthen its traditional base of electoral support in North and Central
India, and enhance the Party’s legitimacy by enabling it to participate as an
acceptable partner in coalition governments with other parties.
32
partner in several states, it was able to secure intermittent control of

the Delhi Municipal Council, and it was able to gain some degree of

governing experience at the local level. It was this pragmatic strategy

that also ultimately enabled the Jana Sangh to cooperate with the JP

Movement, enter into a coalition with the Janata Party in the post-

emergency 1977 elections, and to merge with the Janata Party

following the Congress defeat. Despite this shift in strategy, however,

the Jana Sangh failed to become a major political force in India. The

overwhelming dominance of the Congress Party in Indian politics; the

overpowering charismatic personality of Nehru, with his repeated

attacks on Jana Sangh and the RSS; and the strong popular support for

the Congress Party’s left-of-center social, economic, and development

policies continued to isolate the Jana Sangh in the Indian political

system during most of its two decades of existence (Hardgrave and

Kochanek, 2008). The Jana Sangh also suffered from a variety of

internal problems that further weakened its popular appeal, including

the Party’s close identity with the Hindi-speaking North, its limited

religious and social base, its restrictive Brahmanic interpretation of

Hinduism, its image as a Party of North Indian Brahmins and banias

(small petty traders), and its lack of a coherent economic policy. With

the break-up of the Janata Party in 1979, a group of former Jana Sangh

leaders came together under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee to

form the BJP. Under Vajpayee’s leadership the BJP stressed its

moderation, emphasized its Janata roots, and adopted a Gandhian-

33
oriented set of principles called the five commitments. These five

commitments were (1) nationalism and national integration; (2)

democracy; (3) positive secularism; (4) Gandhian socialism; and (5)

value-based politics (Hardgrave & Kochanek, 2008). By positive

secularism, the BJP meant a common set of moral values distilled from

Indian civilization. The most important new element in the new BJP

program was the new Party’s commitment to Gandhian socialism

(Geeta Puri, 1983).

Although the BJP’s moderate programme was designed to attract a

broader, more centrist base of electoral support, it alienated the more

militant RSS whose cadre formed the core of the Party’s organizational

strength. The RSS demonstrated its displeasure by withholding its

support from the Party in the 1983 assembly elections in Delhi and in

Jammu and Kashmir. During the 1984 parliamentary elections, the

RSS4 went even further in demonstrating its displeasure. Due to the

erosion of RSS support, the BJP suffered a massive defeat in the 1984

parliamentary elections (Hardgrave and Kochanek, 2008). Although

the BJP was able to win 7.4 percent of the popular vote (the most for

any of the opposition parties), the Party was able to win only two

seats and even Vajpayee, went down to defeat. Congress inroads into

the BJP’s traditional base of support among urban, lower-middle class

4
The Organizer, an official organ of the RSS, publicly announced its support of
Rajiv Gandhi for the prime ministership and some elements of the RSS actively
worked on behalf of the Congress (I) in the elections (Hardgrave and
Kochanek,2008)
34
Hindu traders and civil servants, however, proved to be only

temporary, and the BJP remained an important political force

especially in North India. The BJP’s stunning defeat in the 1984 Lok

Sabha elections forced the Party back to its more militant roots. After

considerable soul searching, the BJP made major changes in its

leadership and programme. In May 1986 it selected L. K. Advani, a

Party leader who was known for his close relations with the RSS, as its

new president and reincorporated many of the more militant Jana

Sangh ideological principles into its program including the promise to

build a strong, modern, progressive, and enlightened country that was

inspired by India’s age-old culture and values (Graham, 2012).

The BJP’s renewed emphasis on Hindu nationalism in the mid-1980s

coincided with a series of dramatic events that threatened the stability

and unity of the country and triggered an acute sense of insecurity and

uneasiness among Hindus. These events included the rise of Sikh

separatism in the Punjab, the assassination of Prime Minister Indira

Gandhi, the movement for secession in Kashmir, the conversion of

Hindu untouchables to Islam in various parts of the country, the

Congress government’s response to the Shah Bono case, and a growing

sense of resentment over the disputed status of the Babri Masjid/Ram

temple5 shrine at Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh. These events not only

5 The status of the Babri Masjid at sAyodhya provided an especially powerful

symbolic political issue that the BJP could employ as part of its ethno-religious
mobilization campaign to unify the Hindu community under the banner of
Hindutva (Hinduness). Hindus claimed that the 16th-century Babri Masjid had
35
heightened communal tensions but also triggered a growing sense of

anxiety within the majority Hindu community that created fertile

ground for BJP appeals to Hindu nationalism and ethno-religious

mobilization (Hardgrave and Kochanek, 2008). In the 1989

parliamentary elections the Ayodhya issue helped the BJP make a

dramatic electoral recovery by winning 85 seats and 11.4 percent of

the vote compared to only two seats and 7.4 percent of the vote in

1984. The BJP repeated this success in the February 1990 when the

Party won 556 seats out of a total of 1,616 seats at stake in several

state assembly elections. Increased electoral support enabled the

Party to form BJP controlled governments in Madhya Pradesh and

Himachal Pradesh and to become a major coalition partner with the

Janata Dal in Rajasthan and Gujarat. By the time of the Tenth Lok

Sabha elections in the summer of 1991, the BJP’s efforts to use the

Ramjanmabhoomi/Mandir issue to galvanize Hindu support was

suddenly threatened when V. P. Singh attempted to split the Hindu

community along caste lines by announcing that he would implement

a new job quota system for Other Backward Castes (OBCs)

recommended by the Mandal Commission (Achin Vanaik, 2012).

been constructed on a site that marked the birthplace of the god Rama
(Ramjanmabhoomi) and wanted the shrine restored. Although both the Congress
(I) and the BJP attempted to use the Ayodhya issue to garner Hindu support during
the 1989 parliamentary elections and the 1990 state assembly election campaigns,
the BJP’s commitment to the cause of Ramjanmabhoomi proved to be much more
convincing to many Hindu voters.

36
In late August 1990, in an effort to offset V. P. Singh’s Mandal (caste)

initiative on the political debate, L. K. Advani launched a 10,000-

kilometer rath yatra (chariot pilgrimage) across India to the Babri

Majid at Ayodhya. As thousands of Hindu militants joined the

pilgrimage led by Advani and converged on Ayodhya to witness the

promised beginning of construction of the new Ram temple on

October 30, 1990, the procession was halted by the police and Advani

was arrested. Attempts by the militants to assault the Babri Masjid,

the proposed site of the temple, were also thwarted by the police.

Advani’s rath yatra, the Ayodhya campaign, and the Mandal issue led

to a rising tide of Hindu fundamentalism that came to dominate the

1991 parliamentary election campaign (Chakravarty, 2008). To the

shock and surprise of many politicians and commentators, the

electoral popularity of the BJP soared in response to the Party’s

emphasis on its Hindutva agenda. The BJP almost doubled its popular

vote from 11.4 percent in 1989 to 21.0 percent in the 1991, and the

Party increased the number of seats it held in Parliament from 85 to

119(Hardgrave and Kochanek, 2008). For the first time in post-

independence India, a Hindu nationalist Party had emerged as a major

political force on the national scene and had come to challenge the old

secular Nehruvian political consensus. The issue of the Babri Masjid at

Ayodhya reached its climax on December 6, 1992, when some 200,000

Hindu militants converged on the mosque, stormed through the police

barricades, and demolished the Muslim shrine. The police and

37
paramilitary forces guarding the mosque offered no resistance. The

destruction of the Babri Masjid touched off a political fire storm.

Congress (I) Prime Minister Narasimha Rao denounced the action as

‘‘a betrayal of the nation’’ and attacked the BJP for exacerbating

Hindu-Muslim tensions in a bid to ‘‘grab power, whipping up

communal frenzy to undermine the secular fabric of the nation’’

(Hardgrave and Kochanek, 2008). As reports of the destruction of the

mosque spread across the country, Muslims retaliated by attacking

Hindus, Hindu shrines, and temples in various parts of the country.

Despite curfews, six days of rioting erupted across India and more

than 1,200 people were killed in rioting and police firings—the vast

majority Muslims (Ramachandra Guha,2007). In Bombay, the riots

were the worst since India became independent in 1947. In the wake

of the upheaval over the destruction of the Babri Masjid, the BJP Chief

Minister of Uttar Pradesh resigned; the state was placed under

President’s Rule; and Indian troops cleared the site of Hindu devotees,

leaving behind only a temporary shrine to Rama. Although Prime

Minister Narasimha Rao promised that the mosque would be rebuilt,

he was clearly shaken by the events. The unexpected defeat of the BJP

in a series of state assembly elections across North India in November

1993 brought the Party’s seemingly unstoppable Ayodhya wave to a

sudden halt and demonstrated the limits of ethno-religious

mobilization. By November 1993 the appeal of Ayodhya seemed to

have run its course, caste polarization eroded BJP support, and the

38
Party became weakened by internal conflict. In an effort to win back

its supporters, broaden its electoral base, and break out of its isolation

the BJP again adopted a more moderate approach, placed greater

emphasis on policy issues, and focused on extending its alliance

strategy in preparation for the 1996 parliamentary elections. Although

the 1996 parliamentary elections ended in another hung Parliament,

the BJP’s shift in strategy enabled the Party to win 20 percent of the

popular vote and 161 seats to emerge as the largest single Party in the

Lok Sabha. Although the BJP’s allies won an additional 26 seats and

four percent of the vote, the alliance still fell well short of a majority.

Further, following established tradition, the President of India called

upon the BJP as the largest Party in Parliament to form a government.

The newly formed BJP government, however, lasted only 13 days

(Ramachandra Guha, 2007). Unable to win support from any other

parties in Parliament, the BJP found itself to be totally isolated and

was forced to resign. The BJP’s 13-day government was replaced by a

United Front coalition of 14 parties that lasted 18 months. Determined

to avoid the isolation and humiliation that led to the fall of its 13-day

government in 1996, the BJP entered into a major series of

opportunistic alliances with over a dozen regional and caste based

parties in preparation for the 1998 Lok Sabha elections. Although the

elections produced another fractured mandate and a hung Parliament,

the BJP was able to win 25.5 percent of the popular vote and 179 seats

to emerge once again as the largest single Party in the Lok Sabha. Even

39
with an additional 40 seats won by its electoral allies; however, the

BJP still fell short of a majority. On March 10, 1998, following an

intense period of maneuvering, uncertainty, and bargaining, the

President of India agreed to ask the BJP to form a government. This

time, however, the BJP leadership succeeded in cobbling together a

coalition of 13 parties and a handful of independents that fell just

short of a majority. The apparent deadlock was broken when the

Andhra based Telugu Desam Party (TDP) broke with the United Front

and agreed to abstain on the vote of confidence. Based on these

slender guarantees, Atal Bihari Vajpayee was sworn in as Prime

Minister on March 19, 1998. On March 28 the newly formed BJP

government succeeded in winning a vote of confidence by a vote of

274 to 261 when the TDP decided to vote for the coalition rather than

remaining neutral. In return for this support the BJP helped elect a

member of the TDP as speaker of the Lok Sabha. The resumption of

the upswing in support for BJP in the 1998 elections was a result of

the personal popularity of Vajpayee, a toned-down Hindutva program,

a split in the anti-BJP vote between the Congress (I) and the United

Front, and, most important of all, the success of the Party’s alliance

strategy. The formation of a BJP government, however, was not cost-

free. The Party was confronted with the difficult task of holding its

fractious coalition together and was forced to make substantial

compromises in its program. The fragile, inexperienced and divided

BJP-led coalition government that came to power in March 1998 was

40
confronted by an economy in turmoil (Hardgrave and Kochanek,

2008). The economic problems facing the new government included

the Asian financial crisis of 1997-98, large fiscal deficits, inadequate

infrastructure, slow economic growth, high unemployment, and a

stalled process of economic reform. These problems became further

compounded by the government’s decision to conduct a series of

nuclear tests in May 1998 that led to the imposition of economic

sanctions by the United States and Western Europe. The Prime

Minister, however, continued to encounter stiff resistance from his

coalition partners and the RSS. The government was unable to pass a

bill that would have opened the Indian insurance sector to foreign

direct investment (FDI), enact the Women’s Reservation Bill that was

designed to reserve one-third of all seats in the Lok Sabha and state

assemblies for women, or adopt an investment friendly budget

designed to deal with the economic crisis. In a desperate bid to offset

the impact of economic sanctions and reign in the government’s fiscal

deficit, Vajpayee’s first budget submitted in June 1998 attempted to

reduce tariffs, attract foreign investment, and increase petrol and

fertilizer prices. The budget proposals met with such stiff resistance

from within the governing coalition that the press labelled it the

rollback budget as the government was forced to retreat on almost all

fronts. The government, however, did succeed in passing a revised

Patent Bill in March 1999 and a bill to create three new states. The

Prime Minister also ruled out legislation that would ban religious

41
conversions. Just as it appeared to be recovering some initiative, the

BJP-led government collapsed following the withdrawal of AIADMK

support. On April 17, 1999, the government was forced to resign when

it lost a no confidence motion in the Lok Sabha by one vote, and India

went to the polls again for the third time in three years. The 1999

parliamentary elections marked a new stage in the development of

multiparty coalition politics in India. The BJP, a national party, went to

the polls as the leader of a 24 Party National Democratic Alliance

(NDA) based on a common program. The election became a

personality battle between Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Sonia Gandhi and

was dominated by the May–July Kargil war between India and

Pakistan and the arithmetic of caste. Despite a slight decline in BJP

voter support from 25.5 percent in 1998 to 23.7 percent in 1999, due

to its new alliance arrangements the BJP won 182 seats, an all-time

high for the Party. Since the BJP’s allies succeeded in winning an

additional 118 seats, the NDA emerged with a clear mandate and

controlled a total of 300 seats in the new Parliament. The NDA’s

stunning victory was attributed to the popularity of Prime Minister

Vajpayee, resentment over failed Congress (I) tactics in toppling the

previous coalition government, the Kargil war, the BJP’s soft Hindutva

policies, a divided anti-BJP opposition, and the Party’s highly effective

coalition strategy. The victory of the NDA in the 1999 elections was

marked by a restoration of political stability as the BJP-led coalition

became the first non-Congress government to survive a full five-year

42
term in office. Following its re-election, the new NDA government

declared that it would embark upon a second wave of economic

reform designed to accelerate the country’s rate of economic growth

(Yadav and Palshikar, 2014). One of its first initiatives was to re-

introduce a series of economic reform proposals that had been

blocked in 1998-99 due to resistance from within the coalition and

opposition from the RSS swadeshi lobby. Given the broader electoral

mandate of 1999, the NDA succeeded in passing an Insurance Bill that

opened up the insurance sector to FDI, replacing the highly restrictive

Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, creating new regulatory authorities

for the securities and telecommunications industries, and attempting

to move ahead on liberalisation and privatization by creating new

ministries for disinvestment and information technology. A major

economic and political turning point for the NDA, however, came

toward the tail end of its five-year term in office. Following a year of

devastating drought, the Indian economy was buoyed by a good

monsoon and grew at an unprecedented rate of 8.5 percent, and in

December 2003 the BJP scored a major victory in several key state

assembly elections. While many economists attributed the country’s

remarkable economic performance to the ‘‘rain and pain’’ of a good

monsoon and a decade of painful restructuring of the Indian economy,

the BJP proclaimed a new era of ‘‘India Shining’’ that had transformed

the ‘‘Hindu rate of growth’’ of 3.5 percent in the past into a ‘‘Hindutva

growth rate’’ of 8.5 percent under BJP leadership (Hardgrave and

43
Kochanek, 2008). Vajpayee’s popularity soared, and the Indian press

began to herald him as second Nehru. The BJP became so confident of

its re-election that it decided to hold an early election in 2004 to

renew its mandate — only to go down to a surprise defeat. The

stunning defeat of the BJP in the 2004 elections brought the

remarkable rise of the BJP to a sudden halt. The Party turned in its

worst performance in over a decade. In the 2004 elections the BJP was

able to win only 22.2 percent of the vote and 138 seats compared to

23.7 percent of the vote and 183 seats in 1998. The BJP’s allies

suffered an even bigger defeat and were able to win only 13.7 percent

of the vote and 51 seats compared to 17 percent of the vote and 118

seats in 1998 (Yadav and Palshikar,2014). The defeat of the NDA was

attributed primarily to the anti-incumbency sentiments of the Indian

electorate. Moreover, the BJP though expected to come to power in

2009 elections, it lost owing to various factors. However, the BJP

under the Narendra Modi leadership came to power in 2014 elections

by winning 282 sets on its own.

Samajwadi Party

The Samajwadi Party (SP), one of a group of parties representing

Other Backward Castes, claims itself as a national Party. The Party was

founded in November 1992 by Mulayam Singh Yadav. Singh was rural

bred, attended village schools, and received a higher education at a

district college in U.P. He began his political career as a supporter of

Ram Manohar Lohia’s socialist Party, and joined Charan Singh’s

44
peasant Party, and finally became a member of the Janata movement.

The Samajwadi Party started as a caste-based Party representing the

Yadav community, a middle peasant caste in U.P (Asmer Beg, 2014).

‘Using the Yadav community as his base, Singh sought to shed his

caste-based identity by adopting a programme of socialism and

welfare populism and attempted to mobilize a broad base coalition of

OBCs, Dalits, and Muslims’(Hardgrave and Kochanek,2008). Singh had

won the support of Muslims when, as Chief Minister of U.P., he tried to

save Babri Masjid at Ayodhya from demolition by Hindu militants.

Despite efforts to mobilize Dalits, however, Singh found his ambitions

held in check by the rise of the BSP. As a result, the SP became a Party

of Yadavs and Muslims. The electoral support for the SP in U.P. peaked

in 1996 when the Party won 29 percent of the vote. Since then, Party

support has stalemated. In the 2002 state assembly elections the SP

received only 26 percent of the vote. In an attempt to extend its reach

beyond its base in U.P., the SP fielded 237 candidates in 23 of the

country’s 35 states and union territories in the 2004 Lok Sabha

elections. Although the Party won 26.7 percent of the vote and 36

seats in the 2004, 35 of the seats were from U.P. and the other one in

Uttaranchal, which had formerly been part of U.P. Subsequently, the

Party came to power in the state assembly elections held in 2012 by

winning 224 seats. However, the Party could win only 5 seats out of 80

seats for parliament in 2014 elections.

45
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) was founded in 1984 by Kanshi Ram, a

former government employee and an ardent follower of Dr. B. R.

Ambedkar, to espouse the cause of the Scheduled Castes, backward

castes, and Muslims (Sudha Pai, 1993). Initially, conceived as a loosely

structured body putting Dalit government employees in touch with

each other, the organization had expanded and become more formally

structured with a central office in Delhi, regular publications and a

programme of activities and campaigns which emphasised the

importance of self-activity by Dalits and allied groups (Joshi, 1987; Pai,

1993: 63-7; Mendelsohn and Vicziany, 1998: 218-26). According to

Ian Duncan (1999), the origins of the BSP can be traced to the

formation in the late 1970s of the Backward and Minority Central

Government Employees Federation (BAMCEF). This organization

started in 1971 as a co-ordinating committee of Dalits based in a

government scientific research institute in Pune and the key figure in

its leadership was Kanshi Ram. Kanshi Ram represented a tendency

within BAMCEF that advocated giving priority to electoral

participation and for this purpose he formed an allied organization

popularly known as DS-4 (Dalit Shoshit Samaj Sangharsh Samiti) in

1981 which contested elections in Haryana in 1982. The launch of the

BSP followed in 1984 and it seems that these organizational

transformations were accompanied by considerable internal Party

strife [Joshi, 1987,Mendelsohn and Vicziany, 1998) . Ian Duncan

46
(1999) says, ‘Its aim was to bring about a revolution in the socio-

economic plight of Dalits (oppressed)’. The Party began making its

presence felt but scored its first big success in the 1993 state elections

in Uttar Pradesh when it won 67 seats and 12 percent of the vote and

formed a coalition government with the Samajwadi Party (Hardgrave

and Kochanek, 2008). This Dalit and backward caste alliance,

however, disintegrated in June 1995 and the BSP formed its own

government with the support of the BJP. The BSP government,

however, lasted only a few months and the state was placed under

President’s Rule. The BSP won 10 seats in the Lok Sabha elections of

April–May 1996 and 67 seats in the October 1996 state assembly

elections. Since the state elections resulted in a hung assembly, Uttar

Pradesh was again placed under President’s Rule. In March 1997 the

BSP and the BJP entered into a unique coalition arrangement whereby

the cabinet would be based on equal representation of each Party and

the chief ministership would rotate between the two parties.

Leadership for the first six months was to be provided by Mayawati

6of the BSP in Uttar Pradesh and close confidant of Kanshi Ram.

Mayawati first met Kanshi Ram when she was a student in 1977 and

after working as a teacher she gave up her job in 1984 to become a

full-time activist for the BSP. From an early stage, her political ability

and commitment impressed just about everyone with whom she came

6
Mayawati comes from a Jatav/Chamar family which moved to Delhi after living
in Western UP. The family was involved in Ambedkarite politics but the extent of
this activity is not clear. She gained degree from Meerut University and later a
further law degree from Delhi University.
47
into contact. As the former Governor of UP was later to remark: 'Her

political antennae are indeed very finely tuned. She has a political

sense and uncanny intuitive reactions' (Bhandari, 1998). Mayawati

strengthened her claim to the leadership of Dalit politics in UP in

March 1987 when she contested another Lok Sabha by-election in

Haridwar and came second to Congress and took nearly one-third of

the total vote. In addition to Uttar Pradesh, the BSP also has some

support in the Punjab and Madhya Pradesh. Unlike other largely state-

based parties, the BSP believes that it represents the all-India voice of

the Dalit community and has attempted to broaden its appeal and

extend its geographic scope (Asmer Beg, 2014). Because of its

increasing electoral strength, the BSP was recognized as a national

Party by the Election Commission in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections.

The Party put up 435 candidates in 25 states and union territories and

won 19 seats and 5.35 percent of the popular vote.

Ian Duncan (1999) observes:

What is distinctively new about the BSP is that it has

achieved an electoral success, particularly in the state of
Uttar Pradesh (UP), never experienced before by a
political Party seeking to represent predominantly the
interests of ex-Untouchables. The unprecedented
success of the Party can also be measured by the fact
that it has been able, albeit in alliance with or
depending upon the support of other parties, to take
power in governments in UP on three occasions during
the 1990s and in the process bring to power the first
Dalit Chief Minister of the state, Ms Mayawati. Although
these administrations have proved to be extremely
unstable and short-lived they mark a dramatic break
from the pattern of coalitions of social forces that have
ruled the state previously
48
The BSP in this respect can be seen as a part of the growing

politicisation of caste in India in recent times that has resulted in a

changed focus of claims and demands on the part of mobilized groups

with more attention being given to social status and political power

than to economic advancement (Kothari, 1994). When in government

the BSP relentlessly pursued projects to promote the Dalit identity

and presence in public life. To this end in its three periods of

government it has initiated such programmes as the installation of

thousands of statues of Ambedkar in towns and villages across the

state and the creation of a massive commemorative Ambedkar Park in

the state capital Lucknow. The Mayawati regimes also saw massive

transfers of civil servants and police personnel, a common practice in

UP, but on a scale that led the then Governor of UP to conclude that

there 'was no doubt that officers of the Scheduled Caste had been

favoured' (Bhandari, 1998, Mendelsohn and Vicziany, 1998).

Government's policy of transfer of officials may have been

questionable, in the eyes of many Dalits Mayawati had done them a

service by replacing officials who were perceived to have been corrupt

(Pai and Singh, 1997) and she 'dealt particularly severely with officials

judged to have failed to protect the most vulnerable people in a

particular District'(Mendelsohn and Vicziany, 1998).

The Mayawati governments also expanded the special welfare and

development programme of the 'Ambedkar Villages'. These villages

49
were chosen on the basis of having a high proportion of Dalit

inhabitants and received special infrastructural development funds

that were usually spent in the Dalit quarters of the villages on public

amenities and housing (Pai, 1997). Over 25,000 Ambedkar villages in

UP were designated and participation in the scheme was often cited

by Dalits as a reason for supporting the BSP (Brass, 1997). Sometimes

land that had been allotted to Dalits many years before, but never

actually transferred, was finally handed over during the Mayawati

regime (Pai and Singh, 1997).

The arrival of the BSP has transformed the political landscape of UP. It

has made enormous steps in terms of the construction of a new

political identity for the SC and it has succeeded in electoral politics to

an extent not seen before. The Party has played a central role in this

construction as a consequence of its own practice in political

mobilization and through its conduct and policy in government. It has

benefited many thousands of Dalits through reservations and village

programmes.

Part II: Elections in India

Since independence in 1947, the Indian Party System has been

transformed from a stable, one-Party dominant System to an

increasingly fragmented, federalized, less stable, multiparty System.

Increasingly, political parties in India have come to reflect the social

pluralism and cultural diversity of the country, and the powerful

50
arithmetic of caste, community, language, tribe, and region lies behind

Party labels.

The first General elections were conducted during the 1951-52 ,

second Lok Sabha elections in 1957, third in 1962, fourth in 1967, fifth

in 1971, sixth in 1977, seventh in 1980, eighth in 1985, ninth in 1989

and tenth in 1991, eleventh Lok Sabha elections in 1996, twelfth Lok

Sabha elections in 1998, thirteenth Lok Sabha elections in 1999,

fourteenth Lok Sabha election in 2004, fifteenth Lok Sabha elections in

2009. The sixteenth Lok Sabha elections took place in 2014. The five

year term of the 15 th Lok Sabha expired on 31st May, 2014. Article

324 of the Constitution of India bestows the relevant powers, duties

and functions upon the Election Commission of India while Section 14

of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 provides for conduct of

the elections to constitute a new Lok Sabha before the expiry of its

current term. Taking into account these Constitutional and legal

provisions, the Election Commission of India has made comprehensive

preparations for conduct of elections to the 16th Lok Sabha. Elections

to world’s largest democracy pose immense challenges with respect to

logistics, men and material management. The Commission’s endeavor

in this direction was to consult all stakeholders, invite inputs from all

relevant departments/ organizations and evolve a coordinated

framework for smooth delivery of General Elections (Quraishi, 2014).

This time elections to the 543 Parliamentary Constituencies (PCs) in

all were planned. There has been a remarkable increase in the

51
enrollment of electors in the age group of 18 to 19 years. Over 23

million electors are in this age group. Commission allowed enrollment

of transgender as "Others" in the electoral rolls since 2012. Parliament

amended the Representation of the People Act, 1950, allowing

enrollment of Indian citizens living overseas as electors.

According to Bella Mody (2015), the Election Commission of the

world’s largest democracy has been rightly praised for how well it

conducted the 2014, 16th general election where 66 percent of over

800 million eligible voters cast their ballots. More than 10 million

polling officials and security personnel staffed around 930,000 polling

stations. Results were announced as scheduled on May 16, 2014. The

2014 Lok Sabha elections had the highest voter turnout of 66.4%,

surpassing the 64% poll turnout in 1984 elections (The Times of India,

May 13, 2014). The general elections cost the government Rs. 3,426

crore which is 131% more than Rs 1483 crore spent in 2009 polls. The

2014 elections were held in 9 phases, with BJP, winning 282 out of

543 seats in the Lok Sabha with 31 percent vote share. The Party

doubled its strength from 116 seats it had won in the 2009 elections.

Since independence, the Indian Party system has evolved through two

distinct phases from a period of one-party dominance from 1947 to

1989 to an era of fragmented, multi-party, coalition politics after 1989

(Hardgrave and Kochanek,2008). During the era of one-Party

dominance, India was ruled by the Congress Party. Congress

52
supremacy during these four decades was challenged only once in

1977 when the Party suffered a stunning defeat at the hands of the

Janata Party, a newly formed coalition of non-Communist opposition

parties that had coalesced in response to the declaration of emergency

from 1975 to 1977. Having restored India’s democratic order,

however, the Janata Party disintegrated into its constituent elements

within two years. The defeat of the Congress Party in the elections of

1989 signaled a major break with the past and a significant turning

point in the development of the Indian Party system (Graham, 2012;

Sridharan, 2012).

The Congress Party again formed the government in 1991 at the head

of a coalition, as well as in 2004 and 2009, when it led the United

Progressive Alliance. The Congress victory is attributed to its strategic

resort to populist or plebiscitary politics in terms of electoral and

mobilization strategies. The Lok Sabha elections held so far since 1971

have been decided by a single slogan that appeared decisive at a

particular point in time because of peculiar historical circumstances

(Vanaik,1990) as evident in parliamentary elections: in 1971 it was

‘garibi hatao’ (remove poverty); in 1977 ‘Emergency hatao’ (remove

politicians responsible for the 1975–77 Emergency); in 1980 ‘Janata

hatao’ (replace the Janata Party government for its chronic

instability); in 1984 ‘Desh bachhao’ (save the country), which acquired

a new majoritarian connotation following the assassination of Indira

Gandhi in 1984; in 1989 the campaign ‘corruption hatao’ (remove the

53
Congress government for its involvement in the Bofors scandal) titled

the verdict against Congress, which had a two-thirds majority in the

lower house of the Indian Parliament in 1984 elections. In 1999

general elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party used the slogan of 'India

shining' and was defeated in the elections.

Incidentally the Party became the first Party to win a majority in Lok

Sabha since 1984. The UPA won less than quarter of 206 seats it won

in 2009 elections winning in 44 constituencies with 20 percent of vote

share. The regional parties secured 45.7 percent of vote share. The

elections marked a significant development in which single Party

gained majority after two decades of collation and minority

government. The BJP ran a highly effective national election campaign

backed up by strong local and state level leadership which enable the

Party to register big wins in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh,

and Madhya Pradesh. In Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh the BJP was

aided by strong performance from its alliance partners; TDP and Shiva

Sena. The BJP highlighted the issue of corruption, governance and

rising inflation. The BJP’s success was made possible, among other

factors, due to its electoral strategy of reinventing social engineering

in what may be termed as its second transformation. As a result, it

secured significant support among Other Backward Classes as well as

scheduled Castes and scheduled tribe voters to gain an edge. Besides

this, its promise of development and the projection of Modi as a strong

54
and decisive leader attracted support among the lower and middle

classes ( Palshikar and Suri, 2014)

The BJP made extensive use of online media, including the social

media networks, for dissemination of their ideology and points of

view. After Modi was anointed as the BJP’S Prime ministerial face, he

took control of the Party’s campaign. His team spared no resources to

hire the best talent from marketing and advertising world to deluge

social media. The strategy was to flood every single virtual space and

advertising bill board with Narendra Modi and his face (Harish Khare,

2014). Modi’s successful campaign is being given to corporate public

relations agencies and youth adherents, particularly those who are

proficient in using the information technology tools to aid in campaign

(Badri Narayan, 2014).

Politics and print media

Politics is defined as ‘the decision making process combined with a

struggle to gain access over that decision making positions. Also,

politics is used to legitimize those processes’ (Louw, 2005: 14). Since

politics is viewed as control of decision-making process, the key

players in this decision-making process are politicians; and thus their

communication in the public is considered very important. Since their

communication is regarded as political communication which is

defined by McNair (2011: 4) as 1) all forms of communication

undertaken by politicians and other political actors for the purpose of

55
achieving specific objectives, 2) communication addressed to these

actors by non-politicians such as voters and newspaper columnists,

and 3) communication about these actors and their activities, as

contained in news reports, editorials, and other forms of media

discussion of politics. In fact, the whole gamut of political process and

consequent decision making depends on the media to influence the

public or voters during the elections. Moreover, the politicians try to

create an impression about themselves in the public that they are

working for the welfare of the people and in the process they indulge

in impression management7. Nevertheless, the role of media

particularly newspapers is significant in the political processes as the

media disseminate information related to specific events or issues to

create awareness among the population and also among the

politicians. In political communication, political organizations, media

and citizens interplay and interact with each other. The various

elements through which this interaction takes place have also been

described by McNair (2011) as shown in Figure 1.

Since the modern democracy thrives on information that is

disseminated by the mediatized communication, political leaders

depend on the mass media to disseminate their views on varied issues.

Thus, Schudson (1989:304) observed that ‘any transmission of

messages that has or is intended to have an effect on the distribution

7
‘Impression management is an attempt to portray and claim a desired image in
social interactions’ (Connolly-Ahern, 2009:326).
56
of use of power in society can be considered political communication’.

Politics is a social activity, as noted by Heywood (2005:20) which is

conducted through the medium of language. Hence, language used in

books, pamphlets and manifestoes or daubed on placards and walls, or

spoken in meetings, shouted at rallies or chanted on demonstrations

and marches conveys the message of a politician or a political activity.

Indeed, language is understood as a simple thing as it is used everyday

by common people or politicians. Yet, the language includes physical

objects, feelings, ideas and so forth. However, Heywood (2005:3)

points out that ‘politicians are less concerned with the precision of

their language than they are with its’ propaganda value.

57
 Figure 1

Source: McNair, B (2012). Introduction to political communication.

London: Routledge

Parties
Political organization
Public organizations
Pressure Groups
Reportage Terrorist Organizations
Editorial Government
Commentary
Analysis

Media
Appeal
Programs
Advertising
Public Relations
Opinion Polls
Letter Blogs
Citizen
Journalism

Citizens

Language is therefore not simply a means of communication, it is a

political weapon, it is shaped and honed to convey intent’. Since the

language employed by politicians reveals the intent of the user, often

political message is conveyed through a flag, the badge, the seal, the

token or other insignia and even modes of dress (Lang and Lang,

1989: 322). For instance, Mahatma Gandhi in India used a dress that

he wore was a symbol of his simplicity as well as his identification

58
with the masses (Gonsalves, 2010:25-26). Gonsalves noted that the

‘dress worn by Gandhi such as loin cloth transformed him into a

leader who was saintly and attached himself to common people. His

final clothing most represented the values he lived by; to be among the

poorest of the poor , to hold no official government position, to live

detached from material wealth, to sacrifice his family life for the birth

of a nation and most courageous of all to lead with an appearance of

ineptitude’. Further Suchitra (1995) too observed that Gandhi used

common symbols to communicate his ideology. For example, the

Dandi March undertaken by Mahatma Gandhi in 1930 for abolition of

tax on salt used by common people was considered an instrument of

protest to communicate the feelings of the common people to the then

British government, and he identified himself with the majority of the

people. ‘Gandhi used common salt, which cuts across religious, caste

and class differences. It offered Hindus and Muslims a platform for a

joint struggle on an economic issue; for the poor, it was a symbol of

exploitation, for the rich a struggle against the salt laws gave an

opportunity for symbolic identification with mass suffering’ (ibid).

Moreover, Lang and Lang (1989) noted that ‘political symbols were

not a specific type or sign with destructive characteristics. Rather,

what made them political was the way they were used in political

process to establish, consolidate or alter power relationships’. For

instance, two film personalities in South India used their popularity in

films to establish themselves as popular politicians in the country, and

59
also used their charisma to consolidate their positions among the

people. Two personalities are M G Ramachandran 8 (MGR) in Tamil

Nadu and N T Rama Rao (NTR) in Andhra Pradesh. Pandian (1997) in

his analysis of MGR career wrote that ‘MGR’s role as an individual

adjudicator unfolded itself with particular emphasis on the stunt

sequences that were present in any MGR film’. He further wrote that

these sequences were an articulated expression of his struggle against

oppression: an unarmed MGR fought an adversary single-handedly or

engaged in fighting the landlord’s hirelings…Every time a new MGR

film was released; film magazines carried letters from MGR’s fans

expressing their admiration of MGR’s fighting skills’. Further Pandian

argued that the large-scale circulation of a constructed imaginary

biography of MGR that projected his real life as not being different

from his life on screen. Political platforms, newspapers, pamphlets,

films, calendars and Party posters were used with remarkable skill in

considering his biography’. Such propaganda consolidated his

popularity in Tamil Nadu, and MGR ruled the state even when he was

on the death bed. The masses venerated him as their messiah.

8
With the formation of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in 1949 after a split
in the original political Party, Dravidar Kazhagam, the DMK defeated the
Congress Party in 1967. C N Annadurai became the chief minister and after two
years he died in 1969. M K Karunanithi succeeded him, and a crisis in the Party in
1972 resulted in the expulsion of M G Ramachandran, the treasurer for his
criticism of the Party leaders of indulging in corruption. MGR launched a new
Party, Anna Dravida Munetra Kazhagam (ADMK) which was later renamed as All
India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). In 1977, AIADMK swept
the polls and MGR became the chief minister. He continued to be the chief
minister till his death on December 25, 1987. He won the 1980 and 1984 election.
He became a “legend” in his life time (Vaasanthi, 2006).
60
The other film personality, N T Rama Rao (NTR) too utilized his

popularity in films to gain power in Andhra Pradesh in the early

1980s. During the 1983 elections in Andhra Pradesh, NTR’s campaign

was centered on the issue of Telugu nationalism and self-respect. He

called upon the people to hold high the Telugu people’s honour

(Telugu jati gowram) and self-respect (atma gowram) by defeating the

then Congress Party. Suri (2006:287) aptly observed that the

‘charismatic appeal of NTR was the crucial factor in the TDP’s success

in 1983. People reposed faith in him…he also worked with great zeal

and conviction. His idealism, determination, cine popularity, and work

mesmerized many. He was looked upon with admiration and awe; as a

leader with superhuman capacities. He knew that people hardly care

for what the speaker speaks but are only interested to see how the

leader speaks. He spoke in chaste Telugu. The histrionics were perfect.

The delivery was excellent. His exhortations fell on receptive ears.

NTR, the cine idol for millions of people, known more for his excellent

performances in mythological films, especially in the divine roles of

Rama and Krishna, used his celluloid image most effectively to carry

his political message to the people’. The study of these two leaders

reveal that they were effective as political communicators and the

newspapers at that point of time gave wide coverage to them paving

the way for their victory in the elections. Thus, newspapers too play a

vital role in political communication. For instance, Eenadu, the largest

circulated daily in Andhra Pradesh, turned issues of importance to the

61
people into issues that won votes for the Telugu Desam (Prasad,

2014). The most famous instance of this was the way in which the

newspaper turned women’s demanded for restriction of arrack sales

into massive, state-wide campaign against arrack, leading to the

imposition of prohibition in the state.

62
 Chapter II
Evolution of Political Journalism in India: A
literature Review
The review of literature of pertaining to the present study is divided

into three parts. Part I traces the historical evolution of political

journalism in India, and Part II deals with the political events and the

press. Towards the end of the chapter, Part III presents a few studies

on elections and newspaper contents in various contexts are

presented.

Part I: Evolution of political journalism in India

The Indian press has evolved over 230 years back since the beginning

of the first newspaper, Hickey’s Gazette in 1780. But, Hickey’s Gazette

involved in the exposure of private lives of servants of the East India

Company and devoted considerable space to scurrilous attacks on the

Governor-general, Warren Hastings (Natarajan, 1997:5).The first

newspapers started by the disgruntled ex-employees of the company

aided the East India Company’s servants to further their personal

rivalries. Since the circulation of the newspapers was negligible, they

did not influence the public opinion (ibid). In a way, the Britishers did

not allow political journalism to flourish as it would affect their

administration (Thomas, 2010). ‘The Britishers tended to regard the

press as a collection of tribes and therefore, the press should be

controlled’ (Dhavan, 2009). Further he observed that ‘there were two

schools of thought about this in the British administration in the

63
nineteenth century. One school, led by Sir Thomas Munro, took the

view that the press was not to be trusted at all, and must be controlled

with great zest and in exacting detail. Another school, led by Sir

Charles Metcalfe, seemed to be of the view that the press should be

allowed to function freely, subject to some control with respect to

registration and the restraining effect of some penal offences’. With

the birth of Congress party in 1885, the political opinion in the

country was shaped and furthered by the existing newspapers and in

turn newspapers were moulded by the thriving political decisions

(Narain, 1970:280). In fact, there were 421 daily newspapers with a

circulation of 199825 and 340 periodicals with a circulation of

189486 by the end of 1885.The period between 1885 and 1905

witnessed the division among the existing newspapers and periodicals

in supporting the Congress party. Publications from Calcutta like the

Bengalee, the Amrit Bazaar Patrika, the Indian Mirror, and the Reis and

Ryat were supporting the Congress party while the Indian Daily and

the Statesman exposed the defects of the administration. Pioneer

published from Allahabad and the Civil and Military Gazette published

from Lahore (now in Pakistan) was opposing the Congress party.

During that period a few vernacular dailies were born, they were

edited by people who were less educated as compared to the English

dailies. Narain’s study (1970) of that period focused on the

relationship between the press and the politics. He noted that ‘the

64
English language papers even though edited by the Indians could not

be responsive to urges of the common man1, removed as the English-

educated Indian was far from his countrymen in ideas, emotions and

outlook; whereas the vernacular editor was in emotional sympathy

with the people and brought a fund of common sense and a practical

outlook on the problems which were agitating the people’.

Nevertheless, researchers who attempted the historical sketch of the

press in India dealt with the role of the press during the freedom

struggle (Natarajan, 1962; Krishnamurthy, 1966; Parthasarathy, 1991;

Subramanian, 1984). For example, Subramanian (1984) made an

elaborate study on the role of newspapers in South India during the

freedom struggle between 1905 and 1932. Most of these studies

focused on the British rulers’ attempt to muzzle the press because

they did not want the newspapers to mould the opinion of the people

against them. The year 1907 saw a series of arrests and prosecutions

of editors and journalists and the confiscation of printing presses

(Ramakrishna, 2001). The Indian Press had a missionary role during

the nineteenth and twentieth century till the country attained

Independence in 1947 (Krishna Murthy, 1966; Parthasarathy, 1991).

1In the words of Jawaharlal Nehru (2004) about the contents in the English
newspapers : I remember that when I was a boy the British-owned newspapers in
India were full of official news and utterances, of service news, transfers
promotions; of the doings of English society, of polo, races, dances, and amateur
theatricals. There was hardly a word about the people of India, about their political,
cultural, social, or economic life. Reading them one would hardly suspect that they
existed (p 319).

65
Gandhian era (1919-1947). As soon as Gandhi returned from South

Africa in 1915, he started his political life. However, he launched three

newspapers during 1919-20 defying the Indian Press Act. Although

the Act barred new publications, he boldly launched Satyagrahi (in

Hindi and Gujarati), Nava Jivan (Gujarati), and Young India (English).

Consequent upon the World War I and the massacre at Jullianwalla

bagh, B G Horniman, the English editor of the Bombay Chronicle, was

vehemently condemning the British administration for the atrocities

and supported the National Movement. As a result, Horniman was

deported to Britain. The directors of the Bombay Chronicle who were

running the other journal, Young India requested Gandhi to take over

the journal. Gandhi agreed on the condition that the editorial office

would be shifted to Ahmedabad from Bombay as he set up an ashram

at Ahmedbad which would require his guidance. As he purchased a

printing press, Navajivan Publishing House to publish his monthly,

Navjivan, he would bring out Young India from Ahmedabad. He did not

accept advertisements and believed that the newspapers should

survive on the revenue from subscribers. The circulation of Young

India went up to 45000, and his articles were effective (Ramakrishna,

2001:21). However, Young India was closed in 1932 owing to

repressive acts of the British administration. The thought of having

another weekly was lingering in Gandhi’s mind when he was in prison

in Poona on account of Civil Disobedience Movement (Bhattacharya,

2002:94). Though he was in prison, he established Harijan Sevak

Sangh and asked the Sangh to publish Harijan. On February 11, 1933

66
Harijan was published as a weekly, at the request of Gandhi which

carried, ‘Gandhi’s views on untouchability, village sanitation, rural

reconstruction through village industries, women’s education,

women’s rehabilitation, basic education, and the upliftment of all

(sarvodaya) through employment for every able bodied person

(Vilanilam; 2005: 81). With such educative contents, the print order of

the weekly was 10000. However, in response to the censorship

imposed on the newspapers, Gandhi suspended the publication of

Harijan in November 1940 with an article, “good-bye”, and within a

gap of one year, he resumed the publication in January 1942. In eight

months of its resumption of publication, Gandhi went to prison on

August 8, 1942, and immediately the administration closed down the

weekly. But it came back to life after a lapse of three and half years on

February 10, 1946 (Bhattacharya, 2002:200). As Gandhi was upright

in his attitude, he wrote in Harijan in July 1947: ‘Perhaps we may have

to close the Harijan. My mind rebels against many things that our

leaders are doing. Yet I do not feel like actively opposing them. But

how can I avoid it if I am running a paper? Further, he wrote: Sardar, I

feel that Harijan should now be closed. It does not seem to me to be

right to give contrary guidance to the country’ (Bhattacharya, 2002:

201).Though Gandhi viewed that the duty of the newspapers was only

to serve the people, he used Young India to resist the Britishers boldly

in not compromising with any aspect related to the freedom of India,

and also the freedom of the press. In the face of mounting hostility

against the British administration, the government brought in the

67
Press Act of 1910 which imposed heavy security deposit to open a

printing press, and thereby muzzle the freedom of the press. However,

Gandhi stood firmly for the freedom of the press( Bhattacharyya,

1965), and two cases illustrated how Mahatma argued his cases

related to contempt of court, and sedition which he accepted

eventually to go to jail.

As a journalist, Gandhi never shirked from the responsibility of

carrying the burden of proof, and he favoured objectivity in the news

reports and also exhorted the newspapers to abide by objectivity

instead of favouring other methods to escape the law. He boldly

published a letter against the judge to express the truth. He stood by

his conviction in questioning the judge’s attitude. He was prepared to

face the consequences of violating the rule, and in the face of tough

stance of the judge, he firmly argued his case to resist contempt of

court. In the two issues of Young India, he published articles which

attracted the law of contempt. On March 10, 1920, in Young India,

contempt of case proceedings were reported with a heading, ‘Was it

contempt of court? Proceedings against Mr. Gandhi and Mr. Mahadeo

H Desai’. Two judges Marten, and Hayward Kajiji were hearing the

contempt case against Editor Gandhi and Publisher Desai of Young

India for publication of a letter addressed by Kennedy, District Judge

of Ahmedabad to the Registrar of the High Court complaining of the

conduct of certain Satyagrahi lawyers of Ahmedabad. In April 1919,

Judge Kennedy found that certain lawyers in Ahmedabad had signed

68
the Satyagraha pledge, and he asked them to explain why their

Sanads( licence for a lawyer to practice in a court of law) should not

be cancelled for their having signed the pledge. He did not consider

their explanation satisfactory and hence addressed a letter to the

Registrar of the High Court on April 22, 1919. In consequence, two

notices were issued by the High Court to the lawyers concerned. A

copy of Mr. Kennedy’s letter was given by the Registrar to Divetia,

pleader for one of the lawyers, who handed the same to Mr Kalidas J

Jhaveri, one of the Satyagrahi lawyers, who in turn handed it to Mr

Gandhi. On August 6, 1919 the letter was published in Young India

with a heading “O’Dwyerism in Ahmedabad” along with an article

commenting on the letter with a heading “Shaking Civil Resisters”. As

soon as the proceedings were completed, the Registrar addressed a

letter to Mr. Gandhi directing him to appear before the Chief Justice’s

Chamber to give an explanation as regards the publication of the

letter. Mr. Gandhi replied by telegram explaining his inability to attend

on the appointed date as he was going to Punjab. The Registrar replied

saying that the chief Justice did not wish to interfere with Mr. Gandhi’s

appointment and that a written explanation would do. Gandhi was

asked to publish an apology in the paper, which was refused by

Gandhi. Following his refusal, the judge declared the publication of the

letter would come under the contempt of court. On the judgment of

the High Court, Gandhi stood firmly on the ground saying he would

honour the independence of the journalist and would go to any extent

to undergo punishment.

69
The other case was sedition. Gandhi published three articles in Young

India dated September 29, 1921 with a heading ‘Tampering with

Loyalty’, another article on December 15, 1921 with a heading “the

puzzle and solution’, and the third article on February 23, 1923 with a

heading ‘ Shaking the Manes”. In these articles, he severely criticized

the British administration, and asked the people to rebel against the

government, and in particular the Indian sepoy to rebel against the

government. Because of these writings, a case of sedition was

registered against the editor, M K Gandhi and the publisher,

Shankarlal Ghelabai Banker on March 18, 1922 in the district and

sessions court, Ahmedabad. The charges were “bringing or attempting

to excite disaffection towards his Majesty’s Government established

by law in British India, and thereby committing offences punishable

under section 124A of the Indian Penal Code”. When the charges were

read out in the court, the judge, C N Broomfield called upon the

accused to plead to the charges. He asked Gandhi whether he pleaded

guilty or claimed to be tried. Gandhi pleaded guilty to the charges and

Banker too pleaded guilty to the charges. The judge wished to give his

verdict immediately, but the advocate-general, J T Strangaman

insisted that the due process of law must be followed. The advocate-

general requested the judge to take into account the occurrences in

Bombay, Malabar and Chauri Chauri, leading to rioting and murder”.

In respect of Banker, the advocate-general said that the second

accused, the offence was lesser as he published them, and did not

70
write them. Therefore, the advocate-general asked for a substantial

fine in addition to imprisonment as might be possible. However, the

judge asked Gandhi that “would he like to make a statement”. Gandhi

agreed to give a statement, and the judge asked for a written

statement to be recorded. Gandhi made an oral statement, which was

followed by a written statement (Fischer, 1994).

The two cases reported above illustrate that Mahatma Gandhi never

compromised on the principles he enunciated throughout his life.

Gandhi considered journalism as a by-product of his activities, and

newspaper was a vehicle for him to propagate his views. He firmly

asserted that he was writing these articles only to awaken the Indians

and to rouse desirable sentiments in them against the British rule

while engaging more number of people with nationalism. The press

also played a key-role in national development during that period.

During Independence, the press was an effective medium in the hands

of nationalists as well as social reform groups (Murthy, 2004). They

exposed social evils like casteism, child marriages, ban on remarriage

of widows, social, legal, and other inequalities for which women were

subjected. It also helped them in carrying out a massive campaign to

educate the people on the eradication of untouchability (Krishna

Murthy, 1966; Desai, 1993:237; Yadav, 1985, Bhatt, 1997).

Freedom of the press and political journalism

The practices of political journalism in India incurred the wrath of the

administration during the three tenures of the Prime ministers –

71
Jawaharlal Nehru (1947-64), Indira Gandhi (1969-1977, 1980-1984)

and Rajiv Gandhi (1984-89). Incidentally, the three prime ministers

belong to a family which involved in the freedom movement. They

ruled the country after Independence for a long time and political

journalism naturally focused on them, and they adopted different

means to control the press.

Nehru era (1947-1964). As soon as the country gained freedom, the

newspapers cooperated with the new national government which was

faced with a deluge of problems plunging the country into strife and

bloodshed and instability (Natarajan, 1997). Yet, a section of the

newspapers indulged in fanning communal passions and hatred and in

scurrilous writing. ‘Sensational journalism became a fashion with

some and the country’s interests ceased to be paramount

(Parthasarathiy, 2009). Parthasarathy recorded as

A Bengali editor is quoted by a writer as having

confessed that he adopted a communal policy “because
playing down riots and disturbances curbed his sales.”
Even the newsboys, the editor is quoted as having said,
refuse to touch my paper if my rivals report a larger
number of deaths than I do. The leaders who were
running the government and who had established
complete rapport with the press during freedom
struggle were saddened as the press as a whole was
not with them in meeting the challenges faced by the
new-born government. They seemed to behave, the
leaders thought, as an opposition force as they did
during the British regime when the need was to play a
constructive role” (p 169)

72
When the constitution of India came into existence on January 26,

1950, the Constitution of India was vague in defining the freedom of

the press as Article 19 (1) (a) and Article 19 (2) enunciated freedom of

speech and expression with reasonable restrictions (Bhattacharjee,

1972; Ahuja, 1984: 329). The Supreme Court and High Court

judgments led to the amendment of Article 19 (2) which imposed

reasonable restrictions on the press freedom, and the press opposed

it. The reference to the ‘criticism of the friendly states is not allowed’

in the article was criticized by the press as the government was

curbing its freedom to write on India‘s foreign policy. The press also

thought that the government was further muzzling the press by

enacting another law, the Press (Objectionable Matters) Act. The

newspapers in protest suspended publications for a day and editorials

were written objecting the government measures.

Jawaharlal Nehru was one of the earliest in the government to voice

his ‘displeasure against the press.’ He had a dig at editors when

addressing the All-Indian Newspapers Editors Conference in 1952, he

said: “Of course, it is hardly proper to use the word ‘wise’ in

connection with newspapers. There is no reason why newspapers

should not have at least some small bit of leisured thinking and

wisdom hidden away in a corner is not in the leading article always.”

Nehru asked: “For whom do we want press freedom – for the writer or

for the owner to coerce his employee to write against his conscience?”

Seven years later, in 1959, in speeches in Chandigarh and Bombay,

73
Nehru again criticized the press, questioning the bona fides of the

editors. ‘He said it had been taken for granted that editors of Indian

newspapers could not be expected to realize or speak the truth when

discussing certain aspects of state policy. In another speech in Delhi

Nehru described the press as both the product and symbol of private

enterprise as editors as it champions against state control and

regulation’ (Parthasarathy, 2009: 169).

Indira era (1971-1977, 1980-1984). The years between 1971 and

1977 were turbulent in the history of the freedom of the press in India

(Ramakrishna, 2001). But the study of the freedom of the press could

not be viewed independently but was intertwined with political

developments in the country. Significantly, the ascent of Mrs. Indira

Gandhi to the pinnacle of power was very important in the study.

Political observers like Mankekar (1977), Nayar(1978),

Narasimhan(1977), Selbourne (1977) and Carras (1980) observed

that Mrs. Gandhi’s ambition to retain power led to many undemocratic

ways of holding to it. Obviously, important and historical facts

compelled Mrs. Gandhi to take an extreme step of imposing

Emergency on June 25, 19752. The darkest chapter in the freedom of

2
On June 25, 1975 at 11-45pm, the President of India issued a proclamation saying
‘A grave Emergency exists where by security of India is threatened by internal
disturbance…” The press became the first casualty (Carras, 1980). The President of
India, by an order suspended not only the right to freedom of speech and
expression, but also suspended the right of any person to move the court for the
enforcement of right conferred under Article 19 of the Constitution. Not only was
this, all proceedings pending in courts for the enforcement of these rights
suspended. The right of freedom of the press which is implicit in the right to
freedom of speech and expression in the Constitution was drastically cut. Many

74
the press inter alia in India occurred during the 19-month period of

Emergency. The reasons for the imposition of the Emergency were the

events that took place in the country like rebellion in the Congress

party, the corruption charges against Mrs. Gandhi, the growing

discontentment, among the people, the political events in Gujarat and

Bihar particularly the student agitation, the defeat of the Congress

party in the Gujarat elections and the movement of Jaiprakash

Narayan (Nayar, 1978). All these events further helped political

journalism to thrive, and newspapers were critical of the government.

Commenting on these events, Narasimhan (1977), the chief editor in

Indian Express wrote, “It was not certainly a single act of political

aberration by an authoritarian leader entrenched in the seat of power.

It was the culmination of a process which had begun in 1973; if not

earlier. One of the dominant factors in this process was the emergence

of Jaiprakash Narayan into active politics with the name of Total

Revolution.” On the morning of June 26, 1975, censorship was

imposed on all press writings relating to internal situation related to

political events (Nayar, 1977). As a consequence of pre-censorship3

opposition leaders including Jaiprakash Narayan and Morarji Desai (who later
became Prime Minister of India) were arrested.

3In protest against the pre-censorship of newspapers, several leading dailies in the
country left blank spaces and some other papers published extracts from famous
poems of Rabindranath Tagore in the editorial on the June 28. Shukla convened a
meeting of the editors on the June 28, 1975 and told them that the Government was
not pleased with the editors’ performance. He warned them not to leave blank
spaces nor quote any passages from Jawaharlal Nehru or Rabindranth Tagore.
Criticizing the pre-censorship, Jaiprakash Narayanan (1975: 82) said,…it is still
doubtful if the emergency, the sweeping arrests the suppression of the press, if these

75
leading dailies from New Delhi on June 27 appeared with blanks in

editorial space. Justifying censorship, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi

told the National Union of Journalists that ‘a section of the press was

not concerned with the national interests and that it was helping build

up a vicious atmosphere in the country. It was necessary to prevent

incitement of the people to defy laws. The then Minister of State for

Information and Broadcasting I.K.Gujral, also criticized the

newspapers and said they were becoming ‘views papers’. Vidya

Charan Shukla, who succeeded Mr.Gujral, as Minister, accused

newspapers of irresponsible behavior. He said: “For healthy

journalism it is necessary that papers should be responsible and

accountable” (Iyer and Sethi, 1996).

Rajiv Gandhi era (1984-89). The governments in power tried to

stifle the freedom of expression (freedom of the press) when

newspapers exposed the misdeeds of the governments. It is very

significant to note that the freedom of the press was affected much

during the period when the Congress party headed by Pandit

Jawaharlal Nehru (1947-64), Indira Gandhi (1969-1977, 1980-84) and

Rajiv Gandhi(1984-89). During the time of Rajiv Gandhi, he tried to

muzzle the press. The press, particularly, a section of newspapers in

the name of investigative journalism brought out many corruption

and many other things done since June 26 last, have saved Indian democracy. I am
strongly persuaded that these measures have dealt a grievous blow to our
democracy from which it will take long to recover.”

76
charges against individuals or ministers in Rajiv Gandhi’s cabinet. The

cases pertaining to the Bofors gun deal, West German submarine deal,

came out accusing the Prime Minister of having received bribes in the

deals (Parthasarathy, 2009). Two newspapers which were in the

forefront exposing alleged corrupt deals by the Government were the

‘Indian Express’ and ‘The Hindu’. ‘The Statesman joined them latter

with the story of kickbacks paid to an Indian by a Japanese firm in a

deal with the Oil and Natural Gas Commission. Day after day, these

papers unearthed new material relating to the deals and put the

Government and the Prime Minister in an embarrassing position’

(Verghese, 2005). A Parliamentary Committee was appointed to go

into the Bofors deal and find out the truth about the allegations of

kickbacks but its report which cleared the Government of any

malpractice was ridiculed and characterized as partisan by the

newspapers and opposition parties. And the credibility of the

Government continued to be questioned. There were demands that

Rajiv Gandhi should resign and opposition parties who were

vociferous in their demand were supported by a section of the press.

Veteran journalist and media historian Rangaswami Parthsarathy,

(1991; 304) commented that ‘the phenomenon of trial by the press

was witnessed in Indian Journalism for the first time on a large scale’.

It was in this context that the Government decided to curb the

freedom of the press by introducing the Defamation Bill, 1988 in the

77
Lok Sabha on August 29, 19884. Reacting to the Government’s attempt

to bring in amendments to the Defamation Law in India, newspapers

opposed it vehemently. The main objections to the bill were section 8,

section 12, section 13, and section 15. The Statesman in its editorial,

‘Outlawing Democracy?’ on September 1, 1988, said:

…By trying to suppress public debate that seeks to

make the Government accountable for its misdeeds,
Mr.Rajiv Gandhi had reclaimed the dubious inheritance
that the people of India consigned to the dustbin of
history in 1977. But some indication of authority’s
moves and methods can be read into this repugnant
measure. By seeking to amend the law whereby the
“onus of establishing that the imputation is true and for
the public good…shall be on the accused”, the
Government has let it be known in no uncertain terms
that the official machinery will not be used to bring
evidence of political misdemeanors to public attention…

4 The bill aimed at making publication of imputations falsely alleging commission of

offences by a person. The bill also provided punishment in the case of a first offence
with imprisonment for a term up to two years or a fine which may extend to
Rs.2,000 or both and in the case of a second or subsequent offence with
imprisonment up to five years or with fine which extend up to Rs.5,000 or both.
Where the offence has been committed by publishing an imputation in newspapers,
the court convicting the offender may further order that its judgment shall be
published in whole or in part in such newspaper and in such a manner as it may
specify. The cost of such publication shall be recovered from the convicted person as
if it were a fine. The bill provided that where any matter and which is grossly
indecent or scurrilous or is intended for blackmail is published in any newspaper or
periodical or circular, the author of such matter the printer, published and editor of
such newspaper, periodical or circular shall, in the case of first offence, be
punishable with imprisonment for term which may extend up to two years or with
fine which may go up to Rs,2000 or with both and in the case of second or
subsequent offence, with imprisonment which may extend up to five years and fine
which may go up to Rs.5,000 or both. When a person pleads unintentional
defamation claiming that the objectionable matter was published innocently and
makes an offer of amends, the bill provided that the offer of amends shall be (a) in
writing; b) expressed to be made for the purposes of the section under which he is
charged; c) affirm that the person who has published the matter in question
published the matter innocently in relation to the party aggrieved; d) include an
offer to publish or join in the publication of a suitable correction of matter
complained of a sufficient apology. The correction and apology shall be published in
the same manner and with the same prominence as the matter alleged to be
defamatory was published.

78
The Indian Express also opposed the bill in its editorial dated

September 1, 1988, ‘Fight it’ said:

...By alleging that its critics had converted the

freedom of speech guaranteed by the Constitution into
licence, the Government had sought to throttle by
intimidation criticism and dissent by saying that it was
necessary to shield “the office of the Prime Minister”
from being defamed and denigrated. That was during
the Emergency. Clearly that restricted protection will
not do today…

In the same vein The Hindu also wrote an editorial, “Withdraw the

Defamation Bill”, dated September 3, 1988 said:

The entire Press in India—a many voiced, historically

mature and vigorously independent institution for all its
shortcomings and superficialities—has been aroused to
an intellectual and professional revolt against the
thinking, the approach, the content and the timing that
has resulted in the Defamation Bill, 1988. It was an
insult to the collective intelligence of the press, and to
the democratic instincts of the people of India, that the
authors of the atrociously draconian and unenlightened
attempt to change the law of criminal defamation
misjudged the mood as to imagine that they could sneak
this in and get away with the coup…

Journalists, politicians and lawyers all over the country opposed the

Bill. Journalists in New Delhi held an impressive demonstration on

September 5, 1988 and a nationwide newspaper strike was conducted

on September 6, 1988 against the Bill. Sensing the mood of the press,

the Government called for discussion with prominent editors, and the

newspapers refused to hold discussions with the Government. The

journalists argued that the intention of the Bill was to suppress

political journalism as it was exposing the politicians. The then Prime

Minister Rajiv Gandhi said that the arguments put forward by the
79
press for the withdrawal of the defamation bill were not strong

enough and asked the press to come and convince him. (The Indian

Express, September 17, 1988). Reacting to the Prime Minister’s

announcement that there should be a dialogue on the bill between the

Government and the press, prominent editor Arun Shourie (1988)

wrote an article in Indian Express criticizing the Prime Minister.

The Press since 1990s

Apart from being sensational (Goswami, 1994), the Indian

newspapers became polarised on important issues in the country.

With the onset of coalition politics in the early 1990s, the political

polarization was predominant, and the political parties searched for

issues to gain political mileage. A few studies taken up to analyse the

nexus between the media and political parties focused on the

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and its focus on specific issues. Jeffrey

(2007), Manchanda (2007) and Rajgopal (2009) dealt with the rise of

BJP and the support extended to the party by the select media outlets.

In the north India, two newspapers lent support to Hinduvata from

two perspectives: to sell more number of copies and influence the

voters. Three issues pertaining to the rise of BJP were discussed in the

media: Ram Janma Bhoomi movement, the Pokhran II (blasting

nuclear bomb), and the Kargil war (India–Pak conflict). Manchanda

(2007) observed that ‘distorted terminologies and phrases have been

naturalised in the mainline media. For example, the media played a

vital role in the construction of a public discourse in which the four-

hundred-year old Babri Masjid was converted into a ‘disputed

80
structure’, quietly fulfilling the BJP’s task of convincing the vast

majority of Indians that what was being demolished was not a mosque

in the constitutional sense, but a disputed structure in ultra-

constitutional sense’. Further, Rajgopal (2009) too examined the

influence of newspapers on the reader in dividing the public into two

groups: elite and non-elite groups. Specifically, Friedlnder et al (2009)

found that

… The effects of the newspaper revolution permeate

Indian politics of the 1980s and 1990s. The flourishing
of Hindu chauvinist politics in north India, the inability
of any political party to win a national majority since
1989, the vitality of the locally-based political parties,
the difficulty of most state governments to win
consecutive terms in office - all are related to the
growth of newspaper consumption. The localizing of
newspapers has brought pleasure, outrage, and
participation of millions of people for the first time.

With the proliferation of television channels in India crossing a

number of 800, the print media is increasingly affected in terms of

content. The print content focuses on gossip and politics. Obviously,

the Indian press is known for its wide coverage of political news

(Murthy, 2000), sensationalism (Ninan, 2010a, Philipose, 2010,

Thukkaren, 2010), and gossip combined with entertainment (Ninan,

2010b). Writer, Amrit Shah (2010) finds that ‘news media has been

dumbing down, embracing trivialization with a vengeance’. Thakurta

(2010) candidly wrote that ‘ in recent times, however, corruption in

the Indian media has gone way beyond individuals and specific media

organizations–from planting information and spinning views in lieu of

81
favours received in cash or kind to institutionalized and organized

forms of corruption wherein newspapers and TV channels receive

funds for publishing or broadcasting information that is sought to be

disguised as ‘news’ – but are actually designed to favour particular

individuals, corporate entities, representatives of political parties or

cash-rich candidates contesting elections’. Thakurta’s comments were

significant in the context of political journalism that was practiced by a

section of newspapers which indulged in ‘paid news’ concept. The

newspapers slanted news in favour of the select politicians who paid

money to the newspapers during the Maharastra and Andhra Pradesh

elections in 2009 (Sainath, 2009). The ‘paid news’ concept further

continued in 2014 elections.

Part II: Political events and the Press

Since 1980s, the process of politicisation of events and issues has

increasingly played a significant role in India. The return of Mrs Indira

Gandhi to power in 1980 and the emergence of regional parties in

various states have further given impetus to some of the issues or

events which received significant media attention. Here, in the

following pages, an attempt is made to review some research studies

that are pertinent to the present study. Indeed, these studies are

classified into seven categories for the purpose of understanding the

relationship between political parties and the media. They are: social

trends, particular events, activities of interest groups, politicians’

82
rhetoric, government decisions, language and the press, and content

analysis of newspapers for political issues or parties.

Social trends

Normal social issues though are important are politicized on account

of the involvement of the politicians and non-governmental

organisations. Though liquor consumption is considered to be a social

issue because of its fallout on the domestic life, it has assumed a

significant place in Andhra Pradesh and it has become a social

movement like anti-arrack movement. Because any social movement,

according to Ross (1998), originates depending on four factors: 1) a

spontaneous collective response to rising expectations, 2) efforts to

mobilise resources, 3) the effects of changes in social structure and

political processes, and 4) charismatic leadership.

Further, Gitlin (1994) observed that ‘the mass media define the public

significance of movement or events or, by blanking them out, actively

deprive them of larger significance. Media images also become

implicated in a movement’s self-image; media certify leaders and

officially noteworthy “personalities”, indeed, they are able to convert

leadership into celebrity, something quite different. The forms of

coverage accrete into systematic framing, and this framing, much

amplified helps determine the movement’s fate’. Thus, in the anti-

arrack movement, media played a significant role. Eenadu in 1992

supported the anti-arrack movement initiated by the women of the

Andhra Pradesh. A spontaneous collective response to rising

83
expectations, is observed when an elected government permits the

sale of liquor, it has been opposed by women, resulting in the anti-

arrack movement in which the newspaper, Eenadu played a crucial

role in giving coverage to the movement. The protest movement began

when Rosamma of Dubagunta village in Nellore district launched a

campaign against consuming liquor. She was inspired by a story,

Seethamma katha narrated in an adult education class. Jeffrey

(2003:14) wrote:

The real story began in May 1992 at Dubagunta , a

village in Nellore district, where three drunkard
labourers lost their way and were drowned in the
village tank. The women of the village marched to the
arrack shop and forced its closure. Obviously,
Seethamma katha, an important lesson that they learnt
in the adult literacy class, was at the back of their minds.

Soon the movement spread all over the entire state (Ratnakumari and

Sailaja, 1997). The supporters of this movement started attacking the

arrack barracks, torched the toddy shops and chased the people who

were promoting and abetting this business. Eenadu supported anti-

arrack movement by highlighting the various programmes taken up

by the protesters and allocated a full page in the main edition for the

coverage. Anita (2008) analysed the coverage of incidents, review of

the movements, background stories, damage suffered by consumers

due to drinking in social, economic, law and order aspects and so on.

Experience of the people who participated in the movement was put

forth before the readers which ultimately encouraged the movement.

Opinions of intellectuals, people’s representatives, social experts, and

84
film stars were also collected and published. From time to time

bureaucrats and politicians were also interviewed to ascertain their

perception of the issue. The paper engaged people from various

sections like intellectuals, common people, those related to social,

educational, and industrial units to support the movement. They were

invited to share a common platform to discuss about the implications

of the movement, the steps to be taken in guiding the agitators to

speed up the agitation. The Eenadu group also launched an audio

cassette Shankharavam to encourage those who are already in the

movement and send the message to the people about the evil effects of

consumption of the liquor and arrack. The movement began on April

15, 1992 and the paper allotted one full page under the banner

Saarapai samaram (war against liquor) and every day one slogan

received from the public was published (Krishna Reddy, 2009). So it is

the case with the pocket cartoon. During the movement, the paper

continued publishing cartoon under the caption Saaramsam (the

concept of liquor). Since a special page was published in the main

edition regularly, news items brought from all over the state were

given equal significance to all the districts. Further, the movement

sustained for long because the newspaper played a significant role in

taking up the campaign (Anita, 2008). Shaw and McCombs (1989) who

suggested the agenda-setting role for newspapers observed: The

agenda-setting role of the press is one of civic mobilization. The press

helps focus our attention on the key problems of the day. It sets an

agenda for action’. Specifically, this paper set an agenda for the

85
government to announce the decision of banning liquor. The other

newspapers in the state covered the movement when incidents took

place, and did not take active interest like the Eenadu.

Thus, one significant point is the state government headed by the

Congress party liberalised the liquor policy and lifted prohibition after

three years of the movement. In the present case, Eenadu terminated

its coverage as soon as the movement came to a halt. In fact, the

movement became a political issue between two political parties in

the state - the Congress and the Telugu Desam because the Congress

party liberalised liquor consumption while the Telugu Desam

promised that the liquor would be banned as soon as the party would

come to power. ‘Eenadu, known for its’ support to the Telugu Desam

supported the movement in view of its considered opposition to the

Congress party’ (Krishna Reddy, 2009).

Particular events

Dissemination of information related to any conflict will play a vital

role in creating awareness among the participants and outsiders to

garner support to it, and the role of mass media is significant in this

regard. For example, the movement of Asian textile workers in Los

Angels for better working conditions was successful because of an ad

campaign (Delgado, 1996 cited in Ross, 1998). Because the mass

media and society are interdependent, they reflect each other in their

respective discourses. DeFleur and Ball - Rokeach (1989: 303) have

observed that ‘the mass media system is assumed to be an important

86
part of the social fabric of modern society, and hence it is seen to have

relationships with individuals, groups, organizations and other social

systems’. These relationships may be conflict-ridden or cooperative

depending upon the mass media’s perception of an issue which will

influence the public opinion as seen in the Gulf crisis (Iyengar and

Simon, 1997). Conflict news occupies prime place in Indian

newspapers, the latter too perpetrate conflict between individuals,

groups, political parties and governments (Murthy, 2010: 39). Jeffrey

(2007) concluded that ‘since the early 1980s, two facts confront

anyone who deals with India. The first is the media revolution itself:

newspapers in India’s major languages have trebled their penetration,

and television has become a mass medium. Second, the Bharatiya

Janata Party which aims to make India a ‘Hindu State’ has trebled its’

vote in national elections and become the country’s governing party’.

In all these years, politicisation of events has gone to such an extent

that a gas tragedy, a liquor policy, a temple construction, provision of

government jobs on the basis of caste, the purchase of a gun and

liberalization of economy and so on have been viewed differently by

the political parties, and the role of media in all these issues became

critical and crucial to perpetuate politicization of particular events.

Interest groups
Interest group leaders often encourage social trends and try to

capitalize on particular events to instill their objectives in the political

world and bring them to the attention of the policymakers and public.

‘Interest groups are private organizations that attempt to influence

87
decisions made by the public officials these organizations typically

represent a group of individuals with a common interest ,or

corporations with shared interests. Interest groups use political

communications to appeal to their members, the general public, and

political officials’ (Heldman, 2009: 340). Further, interest groups have

played a more prominent role in influencing public opinion, public

policy, and elections with the advent of mass communication and the

high price of contemporary elections. Since 1980s, caste mobilization

has been undertaken by the interest groups for the upliftment of

lower castes. Krishna Reddy (2010) observed that ‘politics and

political parties addressing social cleavages on caste lines have

become a quite legitimate way of representing and articulating the

interests of segments of people in the electoral arena’. Since the mid-

1980s a new wave of caste-based mobilization in north India brought

the Scheduled Castes (SCs) otherwise known as Dalits into politics in

Uttar Pradesh under the leadership of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)

founded by Kanshi Ram in Uttar Pradesh. The formation of the

government by the BSP combined with another political party

Samajwadi party in the early 1990s introduced the far-reaching

consequences in the politics of Uttar Pradesh and also the country

(Sudha Pai, 2001). While the BSP did have the support of Dalit

newspapers, it did not have the support of the television (Thomas,

2010:76). Loynd (2008:81-82) observed:

88
 The BSP have found success by bypassing the
mainstream media and communicating directly with its
Dalit and MBC constituency. In doing so it has
disengaged from the mainstream media and instead
focused on the cultural messages, symbols and actions
familiar to Dalit communities. It has taken these Dalit
myths and icons and wrapped around them symbols of
equality, self-respect and rejection of the stigma to
empower Dalits and build political support for the
party.

Early on, caste politics began in Tamil nadu in the early 1940s under

the leadersip of E V Ramaswamy Naicker known as Periyar, attacking

the Brahmins and the religious symbols. He also raised an issue of

distinguishing people as Aryans and Dravidians for the purpose of

promoting political divide. Since then, Tamilnadu witnessed the rise of

political parties like Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, All India Anna

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam which fought in the elections to gain

political power on the basis of caste (Vaasanthi, 2006, Jacob, 2010).

Politicians’ rhetoric

The modern day politicians have realized the potential of media as

well as the publicity to influence the public mind. Many issues which

do not deserve much media attention become the locus and focus of

the media and subsequently acquire the national importance. Indeed

in this regard, the media’s role is critical and lends support to such

political parties or politicians. Corner (2003) categorized the functions

of the media in this respect: 1) First, there is political publicity which

projects politicians within the most favourble or unfavourable light

depending on its party origins, 2) There is the spectrum of interactive

89
news-making where differing degrees of involvement, both politicians

cooperate in the production of news and comment, often for the pre-

selected outlets. And 3) journalistic revelation in which some cases

without any political cooperation at all and in others with support

from sectors of the political establishments at a point (leaked

documents), stories are developed that are critical of particular

revelations. These functions of the media are seen in an issue in India

about the construction of a temple in Ayodhya where the national

political parties particularly the BJP took advantage of the local issue

to gain political power.

The Ram Janma Bhoomi movement was aimed at constructing a

temple at the birth place of Lord Ram in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. The

controversy received a nation-wide attention where the district judge

of Ayodhya on Feburary1, 1986 ordered that the locks of the shrine be

opened for the worship of the idols. Indeed, the shrine was located

inside a large mosque which was believed to have been constructed

way back in the 16th century by a general of the Mughal emperor

Babar and hence it was known as Babri Masjid (Ramchandra Guha,

2007:582). Moreover, the place was the birth place of Lord Ram

before the construction of Masjid. In fact, the Lucknow Bench of the

Allahabad High Court, in a judgment delivered on September 30, 2010

declared the place as the birthplace of Ram (The Hindu, October 1,

2010). The site was locally known as Rama Janma Bhoomi. Through

the 19th century, there were a series of clashes between the Hindus

90
and Muslims, the British rulers then affected a compromise, whereby

the Muslims continued to worship inside the Mosque, while Hindus

made offerings on a raised platform outside. (Ramachandra Guha,

2007: 587). On December 22, 1949, an idol of Rama was kept inside

the mosque, and the next day, the district court ordered the closure of

the place. Since then the temple was closed, and in 1986, it was

opened because of the local court judgment. Meanwhile, the Viswa

Hindu Parishad began campaigning for the construction of the temple

at the place where the mosque was located. Further, researchers like

Raj Gopal (2009), Manchanda (2007), and Jeffrey (2007) pointed out

that the telecast of the Ramayan serial in Doordarshan, the national

television in 1986-87 fortified the people’s faith on Lord Ram. Jeffery

(2007) candidly noted that the events since 1984 with the

assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and

ascendancy of her son, Rajiv Gandhi to the post of the prime minister

changed the political situation. He further added Indira Gandhi used

religious symbols to cultivate votes and sympathy. Nevertheless, the

rise of BJP too could be attributed to the use of emotional issue like

temple at Ayodhya for its benefit. The party which was having only

two members of Parliament in 1984 obtained 86 seats in 1989

elections. Two issues need to be taken into consideration. The ‘identity

politics’ in the country were deep rooted at that time. First, the BJP

focused on the Ram Janma Bhoomi issue. Subramaniam (2010)

observed that the ‘parivar and the Jan Sangh (the associates of the

BJP) were by themselves too weak to carry the movement forward. As

91
has been proved repeatedly, movements and conflicts die down

without political support. So too it was in Ayodhya where a deafening

quiet prevailed until the mid-1980s when the VHP and then a

resurgent BJP seized the issue, realising its enormous and electoral

potential’. The BJP politicians and their allies in various Hindu fronts

proclaimed that they would construct the temple in Ayodhya by

demolishing the mosque. Second, to counter the BJP effort to build the

temple was scuttled by the then Prime Minister VP Singh by declaring

27 per cent jobs for members of other backward castes in the

government. Outraged over the announcement of jobs to Other

Backward Castes, upper castes opposed the move. At that point of

time, LK Advani, the BJP leader started a Rath Yatra (Chariot Journey)

around India, and the journey would culminate at Ayodhya. Jeffrey

(2007) observed:

Advani’s ‘chariot journey’, a stroke of powerful

propaganda, drew on Gandhi’s Salt March of 1930 and
brought colour and excitement to towns across north
India. It assumed a central place in explanations of what
had happened in north India politics in what- appeared
to be less than a year.

The purpose of this BJP strategy was to stress on ‘Hinduness-

Hindutva- and to bring together all Hindus on one thread beyond their

self- identity such as caste, region and gender. This political rhetoric

was perpetuated in the media, particularly the newspapers. The

English language newspapers reflected these tendencies and also the

Hindi newspapers (Rajgopal, 2009). In the early 1990s, several studies

92
analyzed the correlation between the mass media, the Ram

Janmabhoomi movement, the constitution of a Hindutva public, the

increase in communal violence, and the rise of the BJP (Manchanda,

2007).

Government decisions

The government decisions have wider ramifications on the public in

view of their importance and the media role in such decisions is

critical. The media tend to create hype in the public by trying to

influence the government decisions. Priest (1996) observed

The media affect public policies in a variety of ways.

Publicity may narrow the policy choices available to
public officials. It may engender government action
when no action might have taken place otherwise.
Alternatively, by mobilizing hostile public or intent
group opinions, the media may force a halt to ongoing
policies. Sometimes, media content and organizations
are also powerfully influenced by the types of
government, the social values, and cultural legacies of
the societies in which they arise.

The central governments exerted control over the media’s reach

through direct and indirect means. ‘Tight control over the newsprint

because it was imported through a state-controlled corporation, high-

level of taxes on imported printing machinery and a wage tribunal that

mandated salaries for media personnel were among the means used

(Rodgrigues,2010)

In 1991, the Central government through the State Trading

Corporation, which imports newsprint and supplies, to newspapers

increased the cost of newsprint on the ground that the newsprint was
93
being bought on extended credit. The outstanding credit amounted to

Rs 60 crores (India Today, August 3, 1991). The newsprint hike was

above Rs 4000 in that year. As a result, the Illustrated Weekly of India

scrapped its colour magazine, which was printed on glazed newsprint

and instead was sticking to its broadsheet format, which was printed

on standard newsprint. The Economic Times increased its cover price

from Rs 4 to Rs 5. The Hindustan Times cut back on its 24-page edition

by anything between 4-8 pages daily. The Indian Express pulled out its

Saturday colour supplement. The reason for the increase of newsprint

price was that the government in power was facing the hostile press in

the wake of it’s decision to implement the 27 per cent reservation for

Other Backward Castes in the government and the disputes in the

government on the handling of the Ayodhya issue and so on. The press

argued that it was a threat to freedom of the speech and expression5.

The Central government or State governments tried to muzzle the

press through their political decisions. Although the Constitution

guarantees freedom of the press, the governments in power enacted

5 The Hindu, in its editorial, ‘Press freedom and Indian situation ` dated January 13,
1990 asked the National Front government headed by V.P.Singh to lift certain
restrictions on the import of newsprint while suggesting other things to the
government. The paper pointed out that ‘the press freedom could be guaranteed
partially if the Government fostered it, and the other half, “equally important and
crucial is the physical and monetary wherewithal that publishers and editors need to
discharge their responsibilities effectively. Particularly the paper suggested two
measures for this purpose: 1) Newsprint imported as well as domestic, should be
available in the quality and quantities required - the commitment being with respect
to the comprehensiveness of readership reach and quality of production. Glazed
newsprint should be supplied to newspapers, besides magazines, to attain
international excellence in printing, 2) Import duty on newsprint should be
abolished. Customs and excise duties on printing machinery, components, and raw
materials (other than newsprint) should be reduced gradually, if it is thought
unrealistic to eliminate them. It should be useful to remember that, in pre-
Independence India, the rate of duty was less than 10 per cent’.

94
laws to curb the press freedom in the early 1980s. ‘On July 31, 1982

the Bihar Assembly passed the Bihar Press Bill despite opposition to

the bill from the newspapers all over the country. The government

planned to amend the Indian Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code

by making scurrilous writing as non-bailable offence, punishable with

severe imprisonment’ (Parthasarathy, 2009). The bill made the

vendor of the newspaper could be found to be guilty along with the

editor and printer of the offending newspaper. However, the bill was

withdrawn with the intervention of the Central government.

The Jammu & Kashmir government in order to discipline the press in

writing against it, in 1989 attempted to bring out a bill, The J & K

Special Powers (Press) bill. The bill laid emphasis on preventive

measures and pre-censorship while confiscating the property of the

offending newspaper. The press council of India examined the bill and

asked the state government to withdraw it. More over, the Central

government made a desperate attempt to bring a Defamation Bill in

1988 when Rajiv Gandhi was the prime minister. With stiff resistance

to the Bill from journalists all over the country, the Bill was withdrawn

on September 6, 1988. Always, there is a rift between the government

and the press, and the press is under strain on many occasions

(Mankekar, 1977). Studies (Ramakrishna, 2001) done by research

scholars analyzed the government-press conflict in India.

The other issue was the government decision to allow foreign direct

investment in the print media. With an important decision, the

95
government radically changed the newspaper policy by allowing the

foreign newspaper ventures in India with limited equity. On June 25,

2002, the Union cabinet (when the BJP was in power) approved the

recommendations of Information and Broadcasting Ministry’s

standing committee to allow 26 percent of equity by foreign

companies in the Indian newspaper industry and 74 percent of foreign

investment in scientific/technical/ medical journals 6. The Congress

and Left parties opposed the move on the ground that foreign powers

might take over the reigns in the newspaper business, thereby

influencing the readers mind as per their needs. This is despite foreign

investment being allowed in most sectors including TV broadcasting

and Internet business, and the overall easy access to any material

from the foreign press through Internet. The government however

brought safeguards7 to ensure that management and editorial control

remain in Indian hands (Economic Times, June 26, 2002).

6 The Union Government’s decision overruled the 1955 Cabinet resolution during
Nehru‘s prime ministership. On September 18, 1955 the Cabinet passed a resolution
with two operative sentences: No foreign owned newspaper or periodical should in
future be permitted to be published in India. And foreign newspapers and
periodicals, which deal mainly with news and current affairs, should not be allowed
to bring out Indian editions. As early as 1959, the Supreme Court ruled that a non-
citizen running a newspaper is not entitled to lay claim to freedom of the press as his
fundamental right. This, question, however, is linked with the issue whether only
individual citizens or corporations can claim freedom of the press and companies
can also claim it. The apex court ruled that while a corporation or a company was
not citizen and was not guaranteed press freedom, its editor, directors, and
shareholders as citizens could claim that right. So, if a foreigner is run as a joint
enterprise with an innovating Indian newspaper or a group of newspapers, its
directors, shareholders, and the editor (whatever his nomenclature- chief editor,
chief-in-editor, executive editor or any other) can seek the protection of the court
while foreign collaborators would sit back and reap the benefits accruing to the
publication in terms of press freedom (Bhatt, 1997). Despite the court judgment and
the 1955 cabinet resolution, the government went ahead of modifying the
newspaper policy.
7 The safeguards are: 1)A single largest Indian shareholder must hold significantly
higher stakes (of over 26%), 2) Also, if the share holding pattern was to be changed,

96
On the issue of FDI, the newspapers were divided into two groups:

pro-FDI group and anti-FDI group. The pro-group included Business

Standard, Indian Express, The Asian Age, The Pioneer, Deccan

Chronicle, Business India, Mid-Day, Dainik Jagran, Gujarat Samachar,

India Today, Ananda Bazar Patrika, and Rashtriya Sahara. The anti-FDI

group includes; The Times of India, Hindustan Times, The Hindu,

Malayala Manorama and Eenadu. Murthy (2004) analyzed the impact

of FDI decision on the newspaper industry. He divided these

newspapers into two groups basing on their political orientation. The

group that was supporting the issue was considered to be pro-BJP and

the other group was said to be anti-BJP. The two groups of

newspapers through their editorial columns and other news items

highlighted their views8. For example, the two national dailies, The

Hindu and Indian Express wrote editorials opposing and supporting

permission of the information and broadcasting ministry is mandatory, 3) There

wont be any room for ‘post-disclosure`, 4) To ensure that editorial control does not
go to foreigners, at least three-fourths of the board of directors must be resident
Indians, 5) Also, all key editorial posts, including the chief editor, must be Indian
residents
8
Despite these arguments, none of the foreign newspapers came forward to invest in
the Indian newspaper till the middle of 2003. However, in September 2003, two deals
were announced-one involving 13.8% equity in Business Standard by Financial Express of
London, and the other in the Hindustan Times to the extent of 20% stake by an
Australian investor, Henderson Global. According to India Book of the year 2004, foreign
investment in these newspapers started as cooperation with editorial syndication of
reports between Business Standard and Financial Express culminated in joint venture.
This kind of arrangements already are existing for some time between The Financial
Express in India and the Wall Street Journal, and very recently it started between The
Asian Age and the New York Times. However, during 2006 and 2008, about 200
publications mostly magazines were launched which attracted an investment of Rs 10
billion ( Kohli-Khandekar, 2010:7)

97
 the government decision. The Hindu editorial on June 27, 2002 said,

‘An Indian Institution under Threat’ and wrote:

…The government claims that the various conditions –

a 26 per cent cap on foreign investment, an Indian
editor and majority staffing by Indians – make for
sufficient checks on any unhealthy foreign influence in
the print media. But the government is not fooling
anyone with such conditions. Everyone is aware that
firms can and are controlled with as little as 10 per cent
equity. And the presence of Indians in senior positions
is not going to prevent the foreign conglomerates in the
background from eventually pulling their strings of
influence.

Contrary to The Hindu’s editorial, Indian Express wrote an editorial on June

27, 2002 (Reading the fine print: Finally, it’s the quality of news that

counts), saying

…Finally, every media institution, whether Indian

owned or not, is only as good as the people who
comprise it. Newspapers may be wholly Indian owned
but may nevertheless display a wanton disregard for
the core values that inform the Fourth Estate. This is
where professionalism and commitment come in. There
is an unfortunate assumption in the arguments raised
against FDI in print that the reader is a fledging in a nest
opening its trusting beak to anything fed to it. This is to
do discredit to a readership that is, from all accounts, a
vibrant, thinking one, nurtured for decades on the idea
of a free press. Nobody, with all the money in the world,
can change the definition of what constitutes good
journalism.

Even editorials discussed the political issues elaborately and

newspapers took different stands on the same issue. Obviously, the

polarization of newspapers has clearly reflected in the coverage and

also the support of newspapers to public issues with a political tone.

Rangaswamy Parthasarathi (2009) a veteran journalist and an author

of three books in journalism commented thus:

98
 The interaction between the press and politicians is
something unique in India. Nowhere in the world the
press devoted so much of its space, time and energy to
the in doings and outpourings, their plots, intrigues,
frauds and manipulations as in India. The politicians do
not resent it and in fact most of them use the press to
serve their own ends, the press becomes a sort of post
office for them which is only too willing to act as a
forum to put up their show. It has been in the years
following Independence and one fears so it will be in the
foreseeable future (2009:331)

Language and the Press

Language is a tool of communication for journalists, and use of

language in news reports plays a significant role in informing the

public about an event. Though a journalist does not witness an event,

he or she tries to construct it with the help of information given to

him/her by a second party. Sometimes, a journalist may be present at

the event; he or she constructs it by understanding it. In such a

situation, is the journalist presenting facts to the public? News is a

representation of reality that happens in the environment and the

language facilitates the projection of reality. In the profession of

journalism, use of value-free words is to be practiced to be very

objective in reporting an event without any bias. Since the use of

language is not mere accidental, they carry the intentions of the

writer. Often, the ideology of the writer is understood through his/her

writings. Fowler (1991:5) said ‘the contents of newspapers are not

facts about the world, but in very general sense ideas’. Thus, the

analyses of media discourses can assess the ideological practice of

journalists and their representation through language. For example,

99
though editorials contain language that is sophisticated, they have

become controversial. When Arun Shourie was the editor of Indian

Express, an editorial was written on August 13, 1990 with the

heading, `If shame had survived ` against a judge asking him to vacate

the seat for allegedly indulging in a scandal. Since the language in the

editorial was pungent, the court issued the editor a notice. In 2001, the

Maharashtra government filed a case against Bal Thackrey for writing

an editorial in his party journal inflaming passions against one

community (Murthy, 2005). Hence, Gandhiji advised the newspapers

to give importance to the language being used in the newspapers. The

following passage is illustrative of his mind.

The last, though not the least, question is: What is the
duty of a newspaper in a country where there are laws
like the “Seditious Writing Act” and the “Defence of
Indian Act” to restrict its freedom?” In order to get over
this limitation our newspapers have evolved a style of
writing which makes it possible to interpret what they
say on a particular matter, which may seem to fall
within the purviews of these Acts, in two different ways.
Some have perfected this art to a science. But, in my
opinion, this causes harm to our country. People
develop a tendency to equivocate and fail to cultivate
the courage to speak the truth. It changes the form of
the language which, instead of being an instrument for
expressing one’s thoughts, becomes a mask for
concealing them. I am convinced that this is not the way
to educate our people. Both people and individuals must
cultivate the habit of speaking their minds. Newspapers
are in a position to impart such training to them. The
right course, and the one which will ultimately be found
to be of the greatest advantage to us, would be that
those who are afraid of the above laws and who do not
want to get entangled in them should stop publishing
newspapers, or that they should frankly state their true
views and bear the consequences. Justice Steven has
said somewhere that there can be no hatred in the
language of a man who has no hatred in his heart. And if

100
 there is any hatred one should frankly express it. In case
one hasn’t the courage to act thus, one should stop
publishing a newspaper. In this lies the good of our
people and our country. (From Selected Works of
Mahatma Gandhiji, Vol VI, 1994: 312).

Part III: Elections, politics and newspapers

In India, elections are a regular phenomenon as the polls are held for

the Assembly elections as well as the Lok Sabha. Umpteen studies

have been conducted on the elections analyzing various issues. The

decrease in voter participation during the 40 years was analyzed,

locating the specific causes for the decline (Chari and Maertens, 2012).

Some other studies like role of political parties in the elections

(Shastri et al, 2009, Sridharan, 2004, Yadav,1996, Ware, 1996), issues

during assembly elections (Kanungo and Farooqi, 2008; Lodha,2009;

Judge2012; Bhardwaj,2008) have been conducted in various other

settings. Further, in the recent elections of 2004, 2009 and 2014 too,

researchers conducted different studies on several issues. For

example, Srinuvasulu (2004) analyzed the 2004 elections from the

prospective of the TDP loss of power and the Congress return to

power the study analyzed the reasons for the defeat of the TDP the

study pointed out “the dominant discourses of the congress and the

TDP are framed in termed of crisis vs. development . While the TDP's

development-centric discourse in view of the multiplier effects of

demand for demonstration of proof hypothetically remained a closed

option, the crisis-centric discourse of the congress campaign displayed

possibilities for new discursive coalitions and political alliances.

101
Because of the discursive centrality of crisis, the concerns of the

marginalized groups gained prominence in the electoral campaign of

the congress and its allies. Through a continuous focus on the suicides

of the farmers and weaver to demonstrate the TDP's insensitivity to

the people's anguish, the Congress sought to deepen the legitimacy

crisis of the TDP regime”. In 2009 elections, it was observed that the

issues raised by the major political alliances elections presented a

mixed picture. The national election study 2009 indicated that voters

did not consider some of the issues highlighted by political parties to

have relevance to them and these had almost no impact on their

decisions. They included for instance, the BJP’ campaign issues such as

India –US nuclear deal and the Ramsethu controversy. However,

economic concerns, basic services, welfare policies and citizen’s

security were significant in influencing voting decisions (Praveen Rai,

2014). Further, two studies analyzed the 2014 elections. Badri

Narayana(2014) analyzed the election campaign of Narendra Modi in

2014 elections. He argued that in the final phase of the 2014 elections,

various arms of the Sangh Parivar, the RSS itself, the BJP cadre and a

team of technically equipped workers, “the blue brigade” 9 were

9
A team of highly skilled professionals has spread out across the districts and cities of up
with the mission of keeping a watch on the local teams working in each district to
campaign for Modi and to report directly to Amit shah. Since the trademark dress code
of the team is a blue kurta and blue jeans. This team is known as the “blue brigade”. The
members of this team are part of the organization called “citizens for accountable
governance”(CAG),and most of them are graduates in professional courses from reputed
colleges and universities both in India and in the united states. Using technological tools
and known –how, this is set of technical professional are masterminding various aspects
of campaign such as the “chai pe charcha” (conversations over “tea”, either in physical
locations or internet chats), Modi 3D rallies (featuring holographic technology enabling
“simul-casting “ of Narendra Modi’s rallies ),etc. This team has been divided into two

102
formed to work the round the clock for the success of Narendra Modi’s

personality-oriented campaign. Sushas Palshikar and Suri (2014)

analysis found the reasons for the success of BJP in the elections of

2014. They were:

1) The BJP was able to increase its presence significantly in all

the regions and states where it did not have strong
presence so far. Its vote share has considerable gone up in
J&K, Assam, West Bengal etc.

2) The social groups are clearly aligning with the BJP. The BJP
began with a base among the upper and intermediate
castes. The party succeeded in winning over sections or the
OBC groups in 1990’s and now has firmly entrenched itself
in both upper and OBC communities.

3) The 2014 elections was the first since Indira Gandhi's

departure when the leadership became a decisive factor.
Modi and his supporters surely worked extra hard towards
achieves this objective .

members units which have been sent to each lok sabha constituency. These units have
been entrusted with the task of judging the activities of the local teams and where the
local teams are not very efficient, the members of the technical team themselves form
campaign teams. The technical team members regularly update the central unit of
Modi’s team about their activities. According to BJP leaders, the technical team is
looking after several election campaigns. The team functions independently of the
district and city committees but it is in touch with all the candidates of BJP. All the team
members spread out across the constituencies of up also have a list of names and
telephone numbers of the officers of the booth management committees. The team has
also asked for formation of groups of10 workers in all these constituencies who are
devoted in their duty of campaigning for the BJP. These workers have been made
members of the existing booth committees and it is reported the technical team has
changed nearly two dozen booth committees. Effectively they have formed their own
booth committees of the RSS and BJP. The technical team monitors the needs of the
local candidates and the input is sent to the central team ,which provides the necessary
support t the local BJP candidates. This team also works in coordination with the RSS and
they exchange information and inputs to form strategies for electoral mobilization.

103
Elections and media. During elections newspapers publish cartoons

on various facets of election which are creative and imaginative

conveying a message to all. During elections media play a crucial role

in reflecting the diversity and plurality of the country (Quraishi,

2012). The media can augment the public participation by providing

information and analyses on a range of political, economic, social and

other issues. The media in India is privately owned and profit motives

can distort the free and fair dissemination of information (Vanita-

Khandekar, 2013). The conflict of social obligation and commercial

consideration do result in compromising ethical standards. Since

elections are part of democracy, it is crucial for the media to give a fair

and accurate coverage of political parties and the contesting

candidates. This entails a sense of responsibility among journalists. To

ensure a fair and objective reporting during elections, the Press

Council of India had formulated guidelines for the print media. The

media can also play a significant role in supporting the Election

Commission of India efforts in holding free and fair polls by keeping a

strict vigil on the electoral malpractices and the violation of the Model

Code of Conduct by the contesting candidates (Quraishi, 2012).

In the recent times, corruption in media has become institutionalized

in the form of paid news10. This unethical practice has become

widespread involving advertising agencies, journalists and media

owners. Media houses come up with specific packages for publishing a

10
Paid news is an advertisement disguised as an editorial, where newspapers and
television channels receive money to publish or broadcast information in favor of
individuals.

104
favorable news items and those who do not subscribe to this package

are blacked out or maligned. This malpractice has become widespread

among newspapers and television channels in different languages. The

Press Council of India has defined ‘paid news’ as any news or analysis

appearing in the media (print or electronic) media for a price in cash

or kind as consideration. Paid news not only seeks to circumvent

election laws relating to ceiling on expenditure that can be incurred by

a candidate, but such advertising masquerading as news has the

potential to exercise undue influence on voters and adversely affect

their right to factually correct information. Paid news undermines

the credibility of the media and poses a serious threat to democracy.

Content analysis and newspapers

Barnett and Gaber (2001:11-12) identified three functions of

newspapers in the context of political communication, viz., tribunes of

the people, information provision and opinion formation. First,

newspapers relay the opinions of the people to the policy-making

elites, governments and elected representatives. Second, they can

convey accurate, intelligible and comprehensive knowledge about

contemporary political issues to the electorate, allowing citizens to

formulate their own informed responses if they choose to participate

accordingly. And third, they contribute to the process of opinion

formation i.e to allow citizens as neutral forum in which to share their

views and a space in which discussions can be held and collective view

is allowed to evolve.

105
In India, the proliferation of media outlets such as newspapers, and

television networks has increased the political news coverage and also

political debates. Obviously, the reason is politicization of each issue

which gets a lot of media coverage. Politicisation, according to Paletz,

(1989: 324) is ‘the process by which an institution, person, event, or

activity not considered political acquires a political meaning and

relevance. Instead of being dealt with privately or in some other non-

political forum, the subject becomes an issue of political concern.

Politicized issues may be featured in election campaigns, provide a

source of disagreements among candidates, inspire differences among

political parties, or be seen as falling under government responsibility

and even requiring government action’. Haque (1986) observed:

Politics is the most newsworthy topic in India. The

drama of conflict among different parties within the
political process and within the parties themselves has
been suggested to have an enormous fascination for the
middle class readers who constitute the majority of the
newspaper readers.

Newspapers devote a substantial part of their resources for the

coverage of political news. Obviously, the vicissitudes of the political

parties, mudslinging and allegations against each other form the grist

to the reporters’ mill (Murthy, 2001). A senior journalist and freelance

writer Tavleen Singh (1994) comments, “ There are other things

seriously wrong with Indian journalism like, for instance, our

obsession with politics and politicking to the exclusion of real issues.

We will, for instance, give you reams and reams on Kanshi Ram’s

problems with Mulayam Singh Yadav but tell you nothing about the

106
state of governance in Uttar Pradesh”. In the context of political

communication, newspapers perpetuate the cause of politicians by

politicizing the issues.

These studies apart, four more studies analyzed the newspapers for

the political content (Murthy, 2001; Murthy and Vijay Kumar, 2013;

Naresh, 2011; Madhavi, 2014). With the advent of coalition politics in

the country since 1989, the political scenario underwent a radical

change. New political parties started emerging with a need to fulfill

regional aspirations. Since the regional parties were focusing on

regional issues, the press too started reflecting those issues. Thus, the

research studies undertaken during the period 1993 to 2013 were

reviewed to ascertain the focus given in the editorials on the state

issues in four dailies. Murthy’s analysis (2001) of four newspapers in

1995 in Andhra Pradesh revealed that politics dominated in the

editorials, and the English newspapers - The Hindu and Indian Express

focused more on national issues while the Telugu newspapers were

focusing on state issues. Although the Telugu Desam party came to

power in the state, the English papers gave more focus to national

category. Subsequent to this study, Murthy and Vijai Kumar (2013),

Murthy and Ramdas (2013), Murthy and Madhavi Ravi Kumar (2014)

found that political news dominated in all the newspapers. Murthy

(2001) found that political news exceeded more than 25% in the four

newspapers: The Hindu (30.6%), Indian Express (28.5%), Andhra

Jyothi (34.8%), and Eenadu (30.8%). Further, Naresh (2011) study

107
examined political news coverage was more than 35% in four

newspapers. Murthy and Vijai Kumar (2013) study found that politics

and government acts received nearly 25% and above percentage: The

Hindu (24.2%), Deccan Chronicle (25%), Andhra Jyothi (34.2%), and

Eenadu (30.9%). Murthy and Ramdas (2013) study noted that political

news was around 15% in the five English dailies: The Statesman (17.3

%,), The Times of India (14.3%), The Hindu (18.4%), The New Indian

Express (16.8%), and Deccan Chronicle (18.8%). Further, Madhavi Ravi

Kumar and Murthy (2014) examined in their study that political news

was around more than 10% in the three dailies: The Hindu (10.9%),

Deccan Chronicle (10.5%), and The New Indian Express (11.3%), and

the one English newspaper, The Times of India gave only 6.8% of news

items dedicated to politics. Ramana Murthy (2014) analyzed the

editorials published during 2009 to 2013 in four newspapers namely,

The Hindu, Deccan Chronicle, Andhra Jyothi and Eenadu. He found that

the Hindu covered the BJP unfavourably while Deccan Chronicle

projected the Congress party favourably in the editorials during the

five-year period. On the other hand, the two Telugu newspapers

covered the Congress party unfavourably in the newspaper editorials

during the same period.

108
 Chapter III

Research Methodology

Significance of the Study

With the attainment of independence in1947, the country under the

leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru went for elections for the first time

after declaring itself as a Republic. The country adopted a constitution

in 1950. The first general elections were conducted in 1951-1952, and

nine political parties contested the elections. Since then , many

political parties came into existence , and the number crossed over

1880 which are registered with the Elections Commission of India.

However, the single party, the Congress was in power for most of the

time except for a brief period of two years during 1977-79 when the

Janata party was in power. After that, the Congress party came back to

power and continued to be in power till 1989.

Political situation in the country from 1990s onwards, underwent a

change and no single party at the national level won an absolute

majority. Political pundits described the situation as the coalition

politics, where big and small parties came together to form a

government. Simultaneously, the mediascape in the country was

increasingly changing in the mid-1990s as the satellite television

channels were growing with the expansion of the cable TV. Television

or radio news which was disseminated by Doordarshan and All India

Radio respectively, the two government controlled electronic media

109
channels was replaced by the private TV channels. The political

parties searched for new avenues to disseminate their views, and the

intensive political situation in the 1990s and the beginning of 2000

prompted the newspapers and television channels to give a

democratic space to all political parties in order to increase their

circulation or viewership.

Against this background, the present study was taken up to examine

the stance of four select newspapers in the country on focusing on

political parties/issues apart from other important issues in the

country. Particularly, the setting of the study was Uttar Pradesh state

which sends 80 members of parliament, the highest number of seats

represented by the state. Specifically, 12 political parties were in the

fray in Uttar Pradesh during the 16th Lok Sabha elections, and these

elections became significant as the Congress coalition was in power

for 10 years, and the these elections would decide the winner. On the

other hand, the main opposition party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)

aggressively campaigned to dethrone the Congress coalition. Also,

newspapers played a crucial role in the coverage of elections.

Therefore, the present study makes an attempt to analyze the 2014

elections coverage in four select newspapers with a focus on political

parties.

110
Objectives of the study

The purpose of the present study is to ascertain the differential

coverage given to political parties during the 16th Lok Sabha General

Elections held in 2014 along with other themes categorized as types of

news in certain selected newspapers. Four newspapers are selected

for this purpose: two each in English and Hindi. They are: The Times of

India, the Hindustan Times, Amar Ujala and Dainik Jagran. The method

of content analysis was used to compare the news content of the

sample newspapers.

The specific objectives of the study are to:

1. find out the frequency and the extent of space allocated to the
political themes as compared to other categories of news in the
sample dailies;
2. make a comparative analysis, in terms of frequency and space,
of the differences in the coverage of various categories of news
in the sample of English and Hindi newspapers;
3. ascertain the relative significance given to political themes and
other categories of news by examining the frequency and the
extent of space allocated to different categories of news in the
front page and inside pages of the sample dailies;
4. find out the differences in the frequency and space devoted to
themes related to state and national items in covering political
and other categories of news;
5. find out the direction of treatment given to political themes in
the sample newspapers;
6. find out the frequency and the extent of space allocated to
themes relating to Scheduled Castes / Scheduled Tribes and
women;

111
 7. compare the frequencies of political-related editorials
appearing in the sample newspapers;
8. compare the frequencies of letters to the editor covering
political themes in the sample newspapers, and
9. to offer suggestions, to carry out further research study in
relation to political news coverage in the Indian dailies.

Hypotheses
From the above objectives, the following hypotheses are proposed for
testing:

1. H1 :The four sample newspapers – the two English dailies and

two Hindi dailies differ significantly in terms of news items
devoted to political news.
2. H2 :The four sample newspapers differ significantly in terms of
percentage of news items devoted to political parties in the
state.
3. H3: There is also a significant difference in the direction of
coverage, i.e., favourable, unfavourable and neutral, to the
political parties in the four sample dailies.
Content Analysis As A Research Method
Content analysis is a method of communication analysis, as well as a

method of observation (Kerlinger, 1973). It is a versatile research

technique in mass communications, as well as in social science

research, where data obtained from archival records and documents

can be analyzed systematically and scientifically to draw valid

conclusions. As a method of observation, content analysis enables the

researcher to take communications people have produced and ask

questions about each communication (Kerlinger, 1973). Thus the

112
content of communications becomes the basis of inference. The unit of

analysis in the present study is news article.

According to Dremers and Nicholls (1987: 10), content analysis is one

of the three major methods of precision journalism, the two other

methods being survey research and field experiment. They state that

content analysis typically uses documents or records as the subjects

whereas survey research uses people as subjects. Therefore, content

analysis is a method which provides a precise means for describing

the contents of any sort of communications – be they newspapers,

radio programmes, films, everyday conversations, verbalised free

associations and so on.

Lasswell (1948) put communication process as ‘who says what in

which channel to whom and with what effect’. As Lasswell described

the communication situation in the form of questions, the central

concept of ‘what’ or ‘the message’ forms the basis for content analysis.

Content analysis is also used by many researchers in different

contexts, particularly to ascertain trends in the communication

content of dailies, weeklies, comics and political coverage of elections

(Cornwell, 1959; Barcus, 1962; Buckman, 1993, Gairelli and

Tulman,2003; Khanduri,2009). Several studies were conducted to

elicit information on various issues covered in newspapers by

analysing their news content (Batlin, 1954; Alisky, 1958; Bust, 1960;

Coulson, et. al., 1995). One significant area is the analysis of

113
newspaper content of the election coverage and editorial treatment to

mould the opinion of voters (Davis and Rarick, 1964; Gregg, 1965;

Haskins, 1965; Devi Prasad et. al., 1991). For example Devi Prasad et.

al., analyzed the editorials and letters to the editor published in four

dailies in India before the 1991 elections to find out the prominence

given to certain election-related themes.

Advantages and limitations. Any research technique has its advantages

and limitations and the method of content analysis is not an exception

to this.

Some limitations of this research technique are:

1. symbols are processed and coded according to the

attribution given by a coder;
2. the reliability and validity issues in content analysis still
remain unresolved (Krippendorff, 1980);
3. sometimes it is difficult to locate messages relevant to the
research question; and
4. the method cannot be used to test causal relationships
between variables (Chadwick, 1984).

Sample selection : Selection of newspapers

As mentioned earlier, four newspapers were selected for the present

study keeping in view their circulation, geographical location, and the

language. They are: The Times of India,Hindustan Times, Amar Ujala

and Dainik Jagran. The circulation figures of these newspapers are

provided in Table 1.

114
 Table 2: Circulation figures of the four sample dailies

Daily Total Circulation in Circulation in

Uttar Pradesh Lucknow

The Times of India 2,890,628 55000

Hindustan Times 1,187,729 13000

Amar Ujala 1,952,849 105000

Dainik Jagran 3,034,140 128000

Source: Audit Bureau of Circulation Report, Jan-June, 2014

Two considerations went into the selection of the two different

language dailies: 1) English being the associate official language and

the main medium of intellectual exchange among the elite in the

country, the English dailies are read by the majority of policy-makers,

decision-makers and administrators 2) the language newspapers are

read by the masses and reach the majority of the population in the

region.

The universe and the sample

The universe for this study comprises all the editions of the four

selected dailies published during the calendar year i.e., January 1,

2014 to December 31, 2014.

Sampling procedure. While selecting the sample, keeping in view the

time and financial resources available for the researcher, it was

thought that a sample of 10% of all the editions of the four

newspapers would be sufficient. This sample, selected randomly,

would be adequate for generalising to the universe (Stempel, 1952;

115
Riffe et. al., 1993). Two methods were adopted to select the editions

to constitute the study sample: 1) continuous week, and 2)

constructed week.

The sample selection was done in two stages:

i. Stage one. A continuous week sampling method was adopted to

select randomly three continuous weeks (one continuous week
comprises days from Monday to Sunday) from all the weeks in
the designated time period – January 1, 2014 to December 31,
2014. In order to select the required weeks through this
method, the sample year was divided into 3 sub-periods, that
is, i) January, February, March and April; ii) May, June, July and
August; analyzed iii) September, October, November and
December analyzed. Then three weeks that is one each from
the three sub-periods were randomly selected.
ii. Stage two. The second stage comprised a constructed week
method (Budd et. al., 1967). For this purpose seven days of the
week were randomly selected from each sub-period to
construct a week. That means, a Monday, a Tuesday, a
Wednesday, a Thursday, a Friday, a Saturday and a Sunday
were selected randomly from all Mondays, Tuesdays …etc., of
each of the sub-period. Thus, three constructed weeks were
selected from the three sub–periods of the sample year.

All in all, the following weeks were selected through continuous week
method making up for three weeks of the sample.

Sub – period –I : Jan 19th – Jan 25th, 2014

Sub – period - II : August 3rd- August 9th, 2014

116
Sub – period – III : September 21st-September 27th,
2009

No. of days : 21

Total No. of editions: 84

The following days of the week were selected through constructed

week method making up for the three weeks of the sample.

Sub – period –I : January 13, , February 5, February

27, March 4, March 14, March 29,
and April 6.

Sub – period - II : May 13, June 13, June 15, June 30,
July 26, July 30, and August 28

Sub- period - III : September 7, October 13,

November 13,November 26,
December 2, December 12, and
December 27.

No. of days : 21

Total No. of editions : 84

Since no public holidays occurred during these 42 days, all the

editions of the four newspapers published on these days were

considered for analysis. Thus, basing on the continuous and

constructed week methods, there were 42 editions per daily and a

total of 168 editions for four sample dailies came up for analysis.

117
Units of analyses

The units of analyses for this study consisted of all the news items,

editorials and letters-to-the editor published in the front page and

inside pages of four selected dailies.

Operational definitions of units of analyses:

Following are the definitions of units of analyses used in this study.

a. A news item is any item dealing with timely event with

current dateline. It is defined as an account of events
reported by the paper’s own correspondents or
reporters and wire service stories. Human interest
stories are included in this item (Parthasarathy, 1984:
107-108).
b. An editorial is an opinion piece which projects the
viewpoint of the newspaper on a particular policy,
programme, or event. It gives a digest of facts, evaluates
them and arrives at a logical conclusion step by step
(Mehta, 1979: 133).
c. A letter-to-the editor is an opinion piece expressed by
the reader on an issue or an event. It is an indicator of
public opinion when compared and contrasted with a
variety of other measures such as news item feature etc.
(Murthy, 2001).

However, the following items were excluded from being considered as

units of analysis for this study. They are: cartoons, illustrations,

special supplements, Sunday magazines / supplements, book and film

reviews, feature articles, news analyses, comics and stock market

indices news items of foreign origin , districts supplements.

118
Thus, all the units of analyses, as per the above criteria, published in

the front page and inside pages of the dailies during the sample period

(January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014) were considered for coding

into the subject categories developed for the purpose.

Subject categories

Keeping in view of the objectives of the study, 12 main subject

categories were identified including one category for politics-related

themes. In the present study, the researcher evolved 12 subject

categories including a specific theme, politics which includes

particular political parties. Further, the coverage of the 12 subject

categories was analysed basing on the geographical dimension. Thus

the news items were divided on the basis of geographical dimensions

into two regions such as state, and national. All the main subject

categories were, in turn, divided into sub-categories,

The following are the 12 main subject-categories with their following

sub-categories:

Category I: Politics

a) Political activities, issues, candidates and leaders

and appeal to political parties by different groups of
people.
b) Political parties such as Congress, Bharatiya Janata
Party, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Aam
Admi party,Communist Party of India, Communist
Party of India (M), Shiv Sena, Peace party, Majlis-e-
Ithehadul Muslamin.

119
 c) Other political parties. Other political parties such as
DMK, AIADMK, TMC, JD, RLD and so on.
d) Election process: this category includes news related
to the conduct of elections, election code and
declaration of results.
e) Parliament and Assembly proceedings.
Category II: Development

a) Health
b) Education
c) Literacy
d) Transport and Communication
e) Agriculture
f) Industry
g) Housing
h) Population control
i) Energy
j) Ecology
k) Human rights
l) National integration
m) Public welfare
n) Social and safety measures
o) Hygiene and sanitation
p) Drinking water problem

For example, coverage of news relating to grounding of new projects

or measures taken by the Government or non-governmental agencies

to improve the existing conditions is treated as development news.

However, this category did not include, statements issued by

politicians, ministers or officials or promises made by them in relation

to the above themes of development. The news made by dignitaries or

120
general statements about the fields mentioned above are treated as

non-relevant for this category and hence they are included in the

other subject categories in the schedule

Category III : Governance and official works

a) Government activities
b) Agreements
c) Government decisions, proposals and
ceremonies
d) Government personnel changes
e) War and border conflicts
f) Assembly and parliament proceedings: This
category includes statements made by ministers
in the houses of parliament and state assembly.
Further, the statements made by members
belonging to various political parties will be
categorised in the sub-theme mentioned in
politics category.

Category VI : Crimes, moral problems, law & order, & court

proceedings

a) Adult crime
b) Moral problems – alcoholism, prostitution etc
c) Communal, ethnic, and linguistic problems
d) Court proceedings and judgments
e) Conflicts involving groups and individuals,
protests
f) Terrorist crimes
g) Corruption charges and arrests
h) Inquiry committee reports
i) Conceived threats

121
Category V: Accidents & disasters

a) Man-made accidents
b) Natural disasters
Category VI: Science & technology

a) Science & technology

b) Invention and research
c) Space
Category VII: Arts, films & popular amusements

a) Classic arts
b) Religion
c) Amusements – films, dramas, poetry recitals, TV
and radio
d) Press
e) Philanthropy
f) Astrology and predictions
Category VIII: Sports

a) All sport events

b) Sport-related news and human interest stories
Category IX: General human interest

a) Struggle for supremacy, romance, mystery,

horror and adventure, the strange, the
humorous, the pathetic, the interesting etc.
b) Marriage, divorce, rites of passage, birth, death
c) Weather
d) Animals
e) Cute children
f) Juvenile interest
g) Obituary
h) Awards and felicitations

122
Category X: Scheduled caste / Scheduled tribe

a) Welfare
b) Education
c) Crimes
d) Other
Category XI: Women

a) Welfare and education

b) Crimes
c) Other
Category XII : Economic activity, travel & transport

a) General economic activity

b) Prices and taxes
c) Money and money transactions
d) General travel and tourism
e) Agriculture and food
f) Labour and wages
g) Natural resources
h) Stock market news, brokers, and company
decisions
i) National and international loans
j) Trade ties and business ventures

Political news
Political news is defined, for the purpose of the present study, as any

news item that contains statements or promises made by the political

parties or leaders of that political party or the activities taken up by

them such as procession, strike, boycott or any other mode of protests

to highlight a problem or an issue. Even functions or programmes

conducted by political leaders or parties to celebrate a victory or an

123
event associated with the political party is also considered a political

news item in the present study. However, this category excludes the

news items that contain policy statements or official activities

involving political leaders in the capacity as a minister or an official

functionary. The category also includes election process, and others as

described specifically in category I. However, the statements given by

ministers in the Parliament and state Assembly have been excluded

from this category.

Geographical categories

The three units of analysis such as news item, editorial, and letter-to-

the editor were also analysed in terms of geographical region –, state,

and national. Thus, the geographical regions were defined as follows:

i) The units of analysis under state category contained events or

happenings concerning the state of Uttar Pradesh. If a news item,
though date-lined as New Delhi or Mumbai, reported a subject
concerning the State, it was considered under State category.

ii) National category comprises those units of analysis containing

events of relevance for national subjects excluding the state as defined
above. For instance, trade agreements or foreign ministers’ visit to the
home country in connection with diplomatic relations were
considered national. News that happened around the country
excluding Uttar Pradesh was also treated as national. Similarly, if a
foreign datelined story reported events concerning India, it was
treated as national news.

124
Data coding sheet

A code sheet was prepared incorporating the subject categories and

geographical categories mentioned above. The code sheet was pilot-

tested by the researcher on five editions of each of the sample

newspapers (i.e., on a total of 20 editions) along with a second trained

coder who was a research scholar in Journalism. Further, necessary

changes were made to the subject categories based on the pre-test and

the code sheet was finalized (Appendix – III).

Procedures of measurements

The units of analysis, coded into various subject categories, were

measured both in terms of their frequencies and space. While all the

units of analysis were counted in terms of frequencies, as regards the

measurement of space, only the news items were considered for the

purpose and recorded in the code-sheet in terms of space. The

frequencies of the news items which appeared on the front page and

inside pages were recorded separately. However, as regards the

editorials and the letters-to-the editor, the frequencies were recorded

in separate columns of the code-sheet taking into consideration their

geographical location such as state and nation.

Space measurement. As regards space, all news items were measured

in cubic centimeters with a standard wooden scale. The space of all

news items was separately recorded for the front page and inside

pages of each newspaper. When a news item continued from the

front page to inside pages, it was treated as front page news item and
125
accordingly the recording was made. When a photograph

accompanied a news item, it was also treated as part of the news item.

Correction factor. In order to standardise the total space measured for

purposes of comparison among the dailies and for statistical

applications, a correction factor ‘k’ was developed as suggested by

Khan and Kumar (1993), and Murthy (2001). The procedure adopted

was as follows.

First of all, the news items were measured with standard unit of one

centimetre regardless of the type size and width of the (single)

column. When the total space devoted for all the subject categories

for 42 issues of each newspaper was available, it was multiplied by the

correction factor calculated for each newspaper for uniformity in

comparison (Table 2). The standard unit used in this study was one

column centimetre of body type containing four agate lines with the

column of 25 ems (12 ems = 1 inch). Details of calculation of

correction factor are given in the Appendix – III).

Table 3
The correction factors (k) for the measurement of space for news
items of four newspapers

Times of India 0.128

Hindustan Times 0.128

Amar Ujala 0.1196

Dainik Jagran 0.1134

126
Inter-coder reliabilities

Inter-coder reliabilities were calculated for all the units of analysis

under each subject category in order to obtain the level of consistency

in coding. Thus, all the three units of analysis such as news items,

editorials and letters-to-the editor were combined together for the

purpose of inter-coder reliabilities. A trained coder who was a

doctoral student in journalism and who was proficient both in English

and Hindi language was employed for the purpose of coding. As part

of pilot study five editions of each newspaper were taken for coding.

After the first coder (i.e., researcher) coded the five editions of each

newspaper, the second coder did the coding of the same editions.

When the totals of each subject category of each newspaper were

available with the two coders, the formula1 was applied to calculate

reliability. It was found out that the coder reliabilities in each subject

category ranged from 90% to 100% (See Table 3).

1.To calculate reliability, the following formula suggested by Holsti (1968) was adopted

2 (C1, C2)
R = --------------------
C1 + C2

Where C1,2 is the number of category assignments both coders agree on, and C 1 + C2 is
the total of category assignments arrived at by both coders (See North et. al. 1963).

127
Table 4 Inter-coder reliabilities for the subject categories by
newspaper

Subject category Times of Hindustan Amar Dainik

India Times Ujala Jagran
Politics 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00
Development 0.99 0.98 0.97 0.98
Governance and 1.00 1.00 0.99 0.98
official works
Law and order, 1.00 0.99 1.00 0.97
moral problems,
and conflicts
Accidents and 0.99 0.99 0.99 1.00
disasters
Science and 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00
technology
Arts, films and 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00
amusement
Sports 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00
General human 0.99 1.00 1.00 0.99
interest
SC/ST 0.93 0.90 0.98 0.97
Women 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00
Economic activity, .97 0.98 0.99 0.99
travel and
transport

Directional analysis
The purpose of using the directional analysis is to find out how the

newspapers have accorded treatment to political themes in their

coverage of the subject categories. Here, only the news items coded

under political category were analyzed to find out the treatment given

128
to political themes by the four newspapers on a 3-point scale:

favourable, unfavourable and neutral. However, editorials and letters-

to-the editor were excluded from the study of directional analysis.

The method of coefficient of imbalance was used to establish the

favourable, the unfavourable and the neutral treatment given to

political news items. The coefficient of imbalance was developed by

Janis and Fadener (1965) as a method of measuring the degree of

imbalance i.e., the extent to which favourable, unfavourable or neutral

treatment is accorded to a topic or message or theme in a given news

item. The method was adopted by Devi Prasad (1992), Murthy

(2001), Madhu Babu (2010) , Vijai Kumar (2010) and I S SRI Naresh

(2011)to find out the degree of imbalance in the coverage of election-

related issues.

For instance, a favourable story was determined by news reflecting

cohesion, cooperation, stability and strength, positive developments
and growth with in a political party or a theme in politics category.

Example:

Amethi warms up to a contest

Amethi: Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on

Wednesday made an unscheduled stop to meet the Aam
Admi Party workers who shouted slogans against him,
near a local AAP office. He however indicated he did not
approve of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s
Dharna politics.” We believe in work and don’t have the
habit of speaking much.” he said.

(The Hindustan Times, January 23, 2014)

129
An unfavourable story was determined by news reflecting conflicts,

delayed decisions , disorganization, indifferent attitude of the party or

any other group or individuals within the party, instability and

weakness, negative occurrences within the political parties

concerning some issues in the political party or a theme in the politics

category.

Example

Rajnath unlikely to join Modi Govt

Lucknow: Bhartiya Janta party (BJP) Chief Rajnath Singh

is unlikely to join the Narendra Modi government if the
BJP led alliance comes to power after the April May Lok
sabha elections. Singh disclosed this during a chat at his
4 Kalidas Marg residence in Lucknow on Friday.
(The Hindustan Times March 29, 2014)

Lastly, neutrality was determined by news reflecting neither positive

nor negative conditions nor a lack of controversial material.

Example

New Uttarakhand Cong panel in September

The recent success in the assembly bypolls and

Panchayat elections is just half the battle won as the
Congress unit in Uttarakhand is planning to announce
its new state team in September. Earlier the plan was to
announce the new 31 member committee after the
Panchayat polls.

(Times of India, August 9, 2014)

After coding all the political stories either favourable, unfavourable or

neutral, the coefficient of imbalance was calculated using the following

formulae suggested by Janis and Fadener (1965).

130
 f2 - fu
Cf = --------------- f > u
Rt

fu - u2
Cu= --------------- f < u
rt
Where f = favourable units of content.
u = unfavourable units of content
t = number of units of total content
r = total units of relevant content.

Data analysis

After coding all the units of analysis into the code sheet, tables and

cross tables were prepared to test the relationships among variables.

Tables were prepared for each phase separately- campaign phase,

election phase and governance phase. Appropriate statistical methods

such as correlation and analysis of variance including the mean and

standard deviation were employed to find out the association and

significance of relationships among variables. Graphs and flow charts

were also developed wherever necessary.

131
 Chapter IV
Profile of news
Newspapers not only supply information but also play a vital role in

the formation of public opinion affecting public participation in the

political processes of the country. Even if people get first hand

information, media coverage exerts an influence on public opinion on

many topics (Combs and Slovic,1979; Behr & Iyengar 1985).

Specifically, newspapers influence the decision making of the

individuals, politicians and government in order to strengthen

democracy in a country. The de facto effects of media have been

documented for numerous topics-concerning opinions on politicians

(Kepplinger, Donsbach, Brosius and Staab, 1989). Keeping this in

view, the differential coverage of political news in the newspapers is

analyzed to examine the role of newspapers in a democracy. In order

to ascertain the extent of political coverage in the newspapers, the

present study analyzed sample editions of four dailies: The Times of

India, Hindustan Times, Amar Ujala and Dainik Jagran, published

during the calendar year i.e., January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014. A

total number of 42 issues of each newspaper came up for analysis

after adopting a two-stage sampling: continuous week and

constructed week. The units of analysis consisted of news items,

editorials and letters-to-the editor.

The objective of the present chapter is to provide a profile of news

covered under different subject categories in terms of frequency and

132
space, region-wise allocation and location of news. As 2014 was the

election year for the 16th Lok Sabha General Elections, therefore the

year was divided into three phases consisting of four months each.

The first phase from January to April 2014 was termed as the

Campaign Phase. The second phase from May to August 2014 was

termed as Election Phase and the last four months from September to

December 2014 was the Governance phase.

Characteristics
A total of 21713 news items covering a space of 229086 Col

centimeters, 245 editorials and 466 letters to the editor with a space

allocation of 1743.2 Col centimeters have been analyzed during the

study period. Among the four dailies, Amar Ujala published the

maximum news items (9284) followed by Dainik Jagran (5511).

Amongst the English dailies, Hindustan Times, published more number

of news items (3952) by allocating more space, followed by Times of

India which published less number of news item (2966) as compared

to all the other three dailies. Amar Ujala has more number of news

items, but less space as compared to Dainik Jagran (Table4). In

relation to editorials, Dainik Jagran published 79 editorials the highest

among the four samples followed by Hindustan Times (65) while the

other Hindi daily Amar Ujala published less number of editorials (47).

In case of letters-to-the editor, Dainik Jagran published the highest

number of letters (200) followed by Hindustan Times (152).

133
Table 4

Unit of analysis
Daily Letter to
News item Editorial
the editor
fr Space fr fr Space
Times of
2966 49052.4 54 60 249.7
India
Hindustan
3952 58169.7 65 152 412.3
Times
Amar Ujala 9284 60873.7 47 54 200.9
Dainik
5511 60990.3 79 200 880.3
Jagran
Total 21713 229086 245 466 1743.2
a
N = 42 editions for each daily; Space in column centimeters

Political theme
Table 5 shows the percentage allocation of frequency of news items,

editorials and letters-to-the editor to political theme. With regard to

frequency of news items, Times of India (18.8%) allocated the

maximum number of the news items to the theme, followed by Dainik

Jagran (17.7%) Hindustan Times (12.8%), and Amar Ujala (7.2%). In

the publication of editorials, Times of India (37%) followed by Dainik

Jagran (34.2%) Hindustan Times (33.8%) and Amar Ujala (31.9%)

came in the descending order. Moreover, Times of India (41.7%)

dedicated more percentage to political theme in the letters-to-the

editor while Dainik Jagran (30.5%), followed by Amar Ujala (27.8%)

and Hindustan Times (25.7%), in the descending order. However,

Times of India and Amar Ujala have higher percentage of political

news 18.9% and 17.7% respectively in terms of allocation of space to

134
 the political theme (Table 6).

Table 5
Percentage distribution of units of analyses for politics and other
subject categories
D A I L I E S
Unit of analysis Hindustan Amar Dainik
Times of India
Times Ujala Jagran
News items
Others 2408 3447 8617 4535
Politics 558 505 667 976
Politics (%) 18.8 12.8 7.2 17.7
Editorials
Others 34 43 32 52
Politics 20 22 15 27
Politics (%) 37 33.8 31.9 34.2
Letters-to-the editor
Others 35 113 39 139
Politics 25 39 15 61
Politics (%) 41.7 25.7 27.8 30.5

Table 6
Dailies
Unit of
Times of Hindustan Amar Dainik
analysis
India Times Ujala Jagran
News items
Other 40005.8 48989.4 50239.1 53037.7
Politics 9296.3 9592.6 10835.5 8832.9

Politics (%) 18.9 16.4 17.7 14.3

Regional focus

The study analyzed the frequency of news items in terms of the

coverage given to the state (Uttar Pradesh) and the nation. The

135
purpose of this analysis is to ascertain to what extent the four select

dailies have covered the themes in relation to their regional relevance.

Indeed, the two dailies Amar Ujala and Dainik Jagran are regional

dailies published in Uttar Pradesh while The Times of India and

Hindustan Times are chain editions published in the state. Amar Ujala

has five editions from Uttar Pradesh while Dainik Jagran has eleven

editions in the state. The present study has found that Amar Ujala

(39.9%) has allocated maximum percentage of news items to the state

followed by Dainik Jagran (32.8%) Hindustan Times (16.7%) and

Times of India (10.6%). In terms of space, maximum space of 33.1% is

allocated to state news by Dainik Jagran followed by Amar Ujala

(30.9%), Hindustan Times (19.4%) and Times of India (16.6%). This

shows that in terms of frequency of news related to state, Amar Ujala

allocates the highest frequency while in terms of space allocated to

state, Dainik Jagran is the highest among the four dailies .

In the category of national news, Amar Ujala covered maximum

frequency (45.9%) of news items to national news with 15.7% of its

space. The Dainik Jagran gives minimum frequency (17%) of news

items and space (16.7%) to national news in the paper. Therefore, it is

evident that the two Hindi dailies, give differential coverage to

national issues while the two English dailies have given more coverage

to national news than state news. The Hindustan Times gives higher

frequency (19.9%) as well as space (27.1%) to national news as

compared to Times of India (Table 7).

136
Table 7
Percentage distribution of frequencies of news items and space by regional focus
in the sample dailies
Region

Daily
State Nation
fr % Space % fr % Space %

Times of
1222 10.6 20002.6 16.6 1744 17.2 29049.8 40.5
India
Hindustan
1923 16.7 23352.4 19.4 2029 19.9 34817.3 27.1
Times
Amar Ujala 4605 39.9 37139.5 30.9 4679 45.9 23734.2 15.7
Dainik
3780 32.8 39651.4 33.1 1731 17 21338.9 16.7
Jagran

Total 11530 100 120145.9 100 10183 100 108940.2 100

Location

The location of news items in the front page and inside pages is

presented in Table 8. Among the four dailies, Times of India (30.7%)

published the highest number of news items in terms of frequency

639 news items while allocating maximum space of 34.9% among the

four dailies on the front page. Further, Hindustan Times (27.8%),

followed by Dainik Jagran (24.2%)came in descending order next to

the Times of India. The less number of news items on front page are

given by Amar Ujala (17.2%) with 19.3 % space. In the inside pages,

Amar Ujala gave maximum percentage of news (45.4%) and allocated

28.8% of its space to news among the four newspapers (Table 8).

137
 Table 8
Distribution of news items by frequencies and spacea in the sample dailies by location

Location
Daily
Front page Inside pages
fr % Space % fr % Space %

Times of
639 30.8 18455.3 34.9 2327 11.8 30597.1 17.4
India

Hindustan
578 27.8 14204.8 26.9 3374 17.2 43964.8 24.9
Times

Amar Ujala 358 17.2 10212.6 19.3 8926 45.5 50661.1 28.8

Dainik Jagran 502 24.2 9981.5 18.9 5009 25.5 51008.7 28.9

Total 2077 100 52854.2 100 19636 100 176232 100

Subject categories
The allocation of frequency of news items for the 12 subject categories

by the four newspapers is shown in Table 9. The analysis shows that

political news obtained the second rank in Times of India (19.6%) and

Dainik Jagran (18.4%) among the four dailies. Three newspapers

accorded first rank to Law and order category. The Times of India

(22.6%) accorded the highest percentage to Law and order while the

Hindustan Times gave 20.8% to Law and order category. Dainik Jagran

allocated the highest (28.5%) space to law and order. But in case of

Amar Ujala, the paper allocated the highest percentage to economic

news (20.4%). Times of India allocated third rank with 12.1% to

138
governance and Hindustan Times allocated 20.8% to development

news. In case of Amar Ujala the general human interest category with

19.1% occupied second rank followed by sports. In the Hindi daily

Amar Ujala ranked the sports category (16.2%) in the third place

whereas in Dainik Jagran gave development (14.5%) followed by

governance (14%) third and fourth place respectively. Hindustan

Times (13.7%) gave politics a third rank in terms of frequency of news

followed by economic activity. Finally the lowest news frequency

amongst the four dailies was given by Amar Ujala to politics (7.4%),

placing it as the sixth category after economic activity, general human

interest, sports, law and order, governance and politics followed by

development. Consistently, the four newspapers gave negligible

percentage to SC/ST category. More over, Table 10 shows the correlation

of newspapers in the coverage of subject categories. Two newspapers –

Times of India and Dainik Jagran were closely correlated (r=.92) while the

Hindi dailies Amar Ujala and Dainik Jagran had weak correlation(r=.38).

139
Table 9
Percentage distribution of frequencies of news items by subject categories in the sample dailies

D A I L I E S
Times of India Hindustan Times Amar Ujala Dainik Jagaran
Categories
Rank Rank Rank
% % % % Rank Order
Order Order Order
Politics 603 19.6 2 566 13.7 3 697 7.4 6 1064 18.4 2
Development 302 9.8 6 867 20.7 2 596 6.4 7 838 14.5 3
Governance and official
374 12.1 3 492 11.8 5 790 8.4 5 813 14 4
work
Law and order etc. 696 22.6 1 868 20.8 1 1351 14.4 4 1653 28.5 1
Accidents and disasters 60 1.9 8 71 1.7 9 88 0.9 10 174 3 9
Science and technology 16 0.5 11 41 1 10 37 0.4 11 24 0.4 12
Arts, films and amusements 19 0.6 10 38 0.9 11 378 4 8 50 0.9 10
Sports 338 11 4 272 6.5 7 1518 16.2 3 213 3.7 7

General human interest 299 9.7 7 301 7.2 6 1790 19.1 2 488 8.4 5

SC/ST 5 0.2 12 6 0.2 12 11 0.1 12 26 0.5 11

Women 58 1.9 9 92 2.2 8 214 2.3 9 112 1.9 8

Economic activity 310 10.1 5 555 13.3 4 1915 20.4 1 335 5.8 6

Total 3080 100 4169 100 9385 100 5790 100

140
Table 10
Correlation of coefficients of frequencies of news items by subject
categories among the four dailies
Times of Dainik Amar
India Hindustan Times Jagran Ujala
Times of India
Hindustan Times
0.84
Amar Ujala
0.61 0.52 0.38
Dainik Jagaran
0.92 0.88

Further analysis of space of subject categories is shown in Table 11. In

relation to the allocation of space, the four newspapers Times of India,

Hindustan Times, Amar Ujala and Dainik Jagran accorded the first rank

to law and order theme. Therefore, Law and order news was given

immense importance by all the four dailies. In case of Times of India,

political news was ranked second with 18.8%, and development news

was given a second rank (17.9%) by Dainik Jagran while Hindustan

Times gave politics (16.5) a second place. The governance category

was ranked at number two (18%) by Amar Ujala, and Hindustan Times

accorded the third place to governance (12.7%) and fourth (12.6%) to

development news respectively. Third rank was accorded to

development news (11.4%) by Times of India. However, all the four

newspapers have closely correlated for allocating space to subject

categories ( Table 12).

141
Table 11
Percentage distribution of space by subject categories in the sample dailies
D A I L I E S
Times of India Hindustan Times Amar Ujala Dainik Jagaran
Categories
Rank Rank Rank Rank
Space % Space % Space % Space %
Order Order Order Order
Politics 9296.4 18.8 2 9592.5 16.5 2 10835.6 17.8 3 8832.8 14.3 3
Development 5599 11.4 3 7380.7 12.6 4 8212.4 13.4 4 11071.6 17.9 2
Governance and
5195 10.5 7 7451.7 12.7 3 10992.5 18 2 8824.2 14.2 4
official work
Law and order
10244 20.8 1 13008 22.2 1 15098.7 24.7 1 17712.5 28.6 1
etc.
Accidents and
1426 2.8 8 731.1 1.2 11 1138.4 1.9 9 2627.9 4.3 7
disasters
Science and
174.8 0.4 11 784.3 1.3 10 661.2 1.1 10 593.4 1 10
technology

Arts, films and

220.6 0.5 10 1128.7 1.9 9 197.2 0.3 11 424.9 0.7 11
amusements
Sports 5492 11.1 5 5673.5 9.7 6 4803.2 7.9 5 2284.3 3.7 8
General human
5572 11.3 4 4711.1 8 7 4281.4 7 6 4663.5 7.5 5
interest
SC/ST 100.1 0.2 12 46.1 0.1 12 74.5 0.1 12 152.6 0.3 12
Women 772.6 1.6 9 1337.8 2.3 8 1406.9 2.3 8 989.6 1.6 9
Economic
5210 10.6 6 6736.4 11.5 5 3372.9 5.5 7 3693.1 5.9 6
activity
N= 49302.5 100 58581.9 100 61074.9 100 61870.4 100

142
Table 12

Correlation of coefficients of frequencies of news items by subject

categories among the four dailies

Times of Hindustan Amar Dainik

India Times Ujala Jagran
Times of
India
Hindustan
0.97
Times
Amar Ujala 0.93 0.98
Dainik Jagran 0.89 0.95 0.96

Front page
The front page in a newspaper is the most significant page, a

newspaper displays news items with high magnitude on the front

page. The selection of news items on the front page is done keeping in

view the various factors of selection. Mostly, the determinants of these

factors depend on the editorial policy and newspaper agenda and

more recent phenomenon is the agenda cutting. Each newspaper has

its agenda because of its political alignments, vested interests, day’s

political events and so on.

The analysis shows that the English newspapers- Times of India and

Hindustan Times gave the highest percentage to political news of

35.3% and 25.1% respectively whereas the Hindi dailies- Amar Ujala

and Dainik Jagran gave law and order the highest coverage of 27.7%

and 26.1% respectively. The second rank was given to law and order

by the English newspapers while the Hindi dailies gave second rank to

politics. The governance and official category occupied third rank in

143
Hindustan Times (19.2%), Amar Ujala(22.6%) and Dainik

Jagran(19.9%). Times of India dedicated the highest percentage of

news items to politics category on the front page during the election

year. Indeed the four newspapers did not cover any issues related to

science and technology and SC/ST category during the study period.

Table 14 shows the percentage distribution of space to 12 different

themes in the front page. It is seen that law and order news received

the highest coverage in the Hindi dailies in terms of space on the front

page. The political theme occupied first rank in the English dailies -

Times of India (32.4%) and Hindustan Times (25.1%) followed by law

and order news the second place by obtaining 26% and 23.4%

respectively in these two dailies. In Amar Ujala, law and order (28%)

followed by governance (24.8%) occupied the second rank whereas in

Dainik Jagran law and order(27.4%) politics (22.7%)occupied the

second space. All the four dailies gave considerable coverage to

general human interest theme. Nevertheless, governance and official

work received more coverage in all the newspapers as compared to

development as the seat of governance on the front page located in

Lucknow.

144
Table 13
Percentage distribution of frequency of news items by subject categories on front page in the sample dailies

D A I L I E S

Categories
Times of India Hindustan Times Amar Ujala Dainik Jagaran

fr % fr % fr % fr %
Politics 225 35.3 145 25.1 62 17.3 112 22.3
Development 22 3.4 36 6.2 20 5.6 49 9.8
Governance and
94 14.7 111 19.2 81 22.6 100 19.9
official work
Law and order, etc. 146 22.8 140 24.2 99 27.7 131 26.1
Accidents and
13 2 23 4 19 5.3 15 3
disasters
Science and
3 0.5 10 1.7 5 1.4 6 1.2
technology
Arts, films and
1 0.2 1 0.2 0 0 5 1
amusements
Sports 14 2.2 9 1.6 3 0.8 13 2.6
General human
54 8.4 62 10.7 38 10.6 36 7.2
interest
SC/ST 0 0 2 0.4 1 0.3 0 0
Women 18 2.7 10 1.7 13 3.6 7 1.3
Economic activity 49 7.8 29 5 17 4.8 28 5.6
N= 639 100 578 100 358 100 502 100

145
Table 14
Percentage distribution of space by subject categories on front page in the sampledailies

D A I L I E S
Categories
Times of India Hindustan Times Amar Ujala Dainik Jagaran
Space % Space % Space % Space %
Politics 5981.3 32.4 3565.3 25.1 2198.6 21.5 2260.2 22.7
Development 679.6 3.7 836 5.9 319.9 3.2 884.6 8.9
Governance and
2192.9 11.9 2741.9 19.3 2530.5 24.8 2041 20.4
official work
Law and order,
4801.9 26 3328.8 23.4 2860 28 2740 27.4
etc.
Accidents and
694.1 3.8 357.3 2.5 479.3 4.7 429.6 4.3
disasters
Science and
46.9 0.3 204.4 1.4 102.5 1 259.1 2.6
technology
Arts, films
38.5 0.2 5.8 0.1 0.4 0 23 0.2
andAmusements
Sports 664.6 3.6 220.2 1.5 70.9 0.7 223.5 2.2
General human
1700.4 9.2 1599.7 11.3 1012.2 9.9 617.1 6.2
interest
SC/ST 0 0 38.7 0.3 13.4 0.1 0 0
Women 313.1 1.7 468.2 3.3 263.5 2.6 81.6 0.8
Economic
1342.2 7.2 838.7 5.9 361.5 3.5 422.2 4.3
activity
N= 18455.5 100 14205 100 10212.7 100 9981.9 100

146
State news. In covering news related to Uttar Pradesh on the front

page, Times of India (35.4%)gave highest priority to politics, whereas

Hindustan Times (25.9%) gave highest percentage to law and order

along with Dainik Jagran (29.3%). While Amar Ujala (29.8%) gave

highest space to governance followed by law and order (25.7%) while

Dainik Jagran (22.3%) accorded the second rank to politics followed

by governance (17.4%). However, Hindustan Times accorded second

rank to General Human Interest news (19.3%) followed by politics

(16.1%) and governance (15.6%). Amar Ujala (18.8%) gave third

rank to politics. Times of India gave Law and order (26.9%) the second

rank followed by governance (14.3%). The two other categories –

science & technology and SC/ST, and did not receive any coverage in

all the four papers. Although art and films show no coverage but that

is because entertainment news was principally reported or covered

(Table 15). But, economic activity although important in a state capital

obtained very little coverage in these newspapers in terms of

frequency of news items. Moreover, the allocation of space to these

categories is alike to the percentage of frequency of news items.

147
Table 15
Percentage distribution of frequency of news items and to state news by subject categories on front page
DAILIES
Categories Times of India Hindustan Times Amar Ujala Dainik Jagran
fr % space % fr % space % Fr % space % fr % space %
Politics 62 35.4 1915.5 34.3 34 16.1 940.7 16.7 32 18.8 1196.1 23 54 22.3 916.6 19.7
Development 9 5.1 383.8 6.9 17 8 478.4 8.5 12 7 214.4 4.1 24 10 402.7 8.6
Governance and
25 14.3 556.9 10 33 15.6 842.1 15 51 29.8 1560.8 29.9 42 17.4 763 16.4
official work
Law and order, moral 47 26.9 1223.7 22 55 25.9 1307.8 23.4 44 25.7 1498.5 28.7 71 29.3 1680.1 36.1
Accidents and
4 2.3 152.4 2.7 15 7.1 219.8 3.9 10 5.8 204.9 3.9 12 4.9 329.1 7.1
disasters
Science and
0 0 0 0 2 0.9 28.2 0.5 0 0 0 0 1 0.4 14.2 0.3
technology
Arts, films and
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
amusements
Sports 3 1.7 311.6 5.6 5 2.4 161.5 2.9 1 0.6 40.3 0.8 3 1.2 20.4 0.4
General human
18 10.3 828.2 14.9 41 19.3 1144.4 20.4 15 8.8 367.8 7 22 9.1 358.8 7.7
interest
SC/ST 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Women 5 2.9 133.4 2.4 7 3.3 401.9 7.3 4 2.3 89.5 1.7 5 2.1 63.7 1.4
Economic activity 2 1.1 64.7 1.2 3 1.4 72.9 1.4 2 1.2 48.6 0.9 8 3.3 107.1 2.3
Total 175 100 5570.2 100 212 100 5597.7 100 171 100 5220.9 100 242 100 4655.7 100

148
Table 16
Percentage distribution of frequency of news items and space to national news by subject categories on front page
D A I L I E S
Categories Dainik
Times of India Hindustan Times Amar Ujala
Jagran
fr % space % fr % space % Fr % space % fr % space %
Politics 163 35.2 4065.8 31.5 111 30.3 2624.5 30.5 30 16 1002.3 20 58 22.3 1344.1 25.5
Development 13 2.8 295.8 2.3 19 5.2 357.6 4.2 8 4.3 105.5 2.1 25 9.6 481.9 9
Governance and
69 14.9 1636 12.7 78 21.3 1899.7 22.1 30 16 969.7 19.4 58 22.3 1277.5 24
official work
Law and order etc. 99 21.3 3578.3 27.8 85 23.2 2021.1 23.5 55 29.4 1361.6 27.3 60 23.1 1059.5 19.9
Accidents and
9 1.9 541.7 4.2 8 2.2 137.4 1.6 9 4.8 274.4 5.5 3 1.2 100.5 1.9
disasters
Science and
3 0.6 46.9 0.4 8 2.2 176.3 2 5 2.7 102.5 2.1 5 1.9 244.9 4.6
technology
Arts, films and
1 0.2 38.5 0.3 1 0.3 5.8 0.1 0 0 0 0 5 1.9 23 0.4
amusements
Sports 11 2.4 353 2.7 4 1.1 58.6 0.7 2 1.1 30.6 0.6 10 3.8 203.1 3.8
General human
36 7.8 872.2 6.8 21 5.7 455.3 5.3 23 12.3 644.4 12.9 14 5.4 258.3 4.8
interest
SC/ST 0 0 0 0 2 0.5 38.7 0.4 1 0.5 13.4 0.3 0 0 0 0
Women 13 2.8 179.7 1.4 3 0.8 66.3 0.8 9 4.8 173.9 3.5 2 0.8 17.9 0.3
Economic activity 47 10.1 1277.4 9.9 26 7.2 765.7 8.8 15 8.1 312.9 6.3 20 7.7 315.1 5.8
Total 464 100 12885.3 100 366 100 8607 100 187 100 4991.2 100 260 100 5325.8 100

149
Table 17

Percentage distribution of frequency of news items by subject categories in the inside pages of the sample dailies

D A I L I E S
Categories
Times of India Hindustan Times Amar Ujala Dainik Jagran
Rank Rank Rank Rank
fr % Fr % fr % fr %
Order Order Order Order
Politics 333 14.3 2 360 10.6 4 605 6.6 6 864 17.3 2
Development 264 11.3 4 810 24 1 553 6.2 7 739 14.8 3
Governance and official
263 11.3 5 346 10.2 5 696 7.8 5 669 13.4 4
work
Law and order, etc. 535 23 1 687 20.4 2 1238 14 4 1471 29.4 1
Accidents and disasters 47 2 8 48 1.4 9 69 0.7 10 153 3.1 8
Science and technology 12 0.5 11 29 0.9 11 30 0.3 11 17 0.3 12
Arts, films and amusements 16 0.7 10 36 1.1 10 377 4.2 8 44 0.9 10
Sports 322 13.8 3 260 7.7 6 1508 17 3 198 3.8 7
General human interest 239 10.3 7 230 6.8 7 1748 20 2 421 8.3 5
SC/ST 3 0.1 12 3 0.1 12 10 0.1 12 26 0.5 11
Women 37 1.6 9 76 2.3 8 198 2.1 9 103 2.1 9

Economic activity 256 11.1 6 489 14.5 3 1894 21 1 304 6.1 6

N= 2327 100 3374 100 8926 100 5009 100

150
National news. In the front page, politics received the highest

percentage of frequency of news items only in English dailies- Times of

India (35.2%) and Hindustan Times (30.3%)whereas across the two

Hindi dailies in relation to the coverage of national news, the highest

percentage was given to law and order by Amar Ujala (29.4% ) and

Dainik Jagran (23.1%). The law and order news (21.3%) reported in

Times of India ranked second whereas 23.2% of frequency of news

was allocated to law and order in Hindustan Times. Amar Ujala with

16% news in politics gave it a second rank followed by 12.3% news

for general human Interest. In Dainik Jagran after law and order

received 22.3% news with more allocation of space to politics. Space

allocation to various categories was nearly balanced in case of

Hindustan Times. Amar Ujala gave a higher frequency of news to law

but allocated lower space to the same category. In the case of Dainik

Jagran, law and order news had higher frequency but space allocation

was less. Further, the Hindustan Times (21.3%), and Dainik Jagran

(22.3%) and The Times of India (14.9%) gave third rank to governance

(Table 16). In case of political news it is evident that a higher

frequency of political news covered in the English dailies whereas in

case of Hindi dailies, frequency is lower but space allocation is more to

political news. Further, general human interest in case of Amar Ujala

occupies a third rank (12.3%) although Dainik Jagran gave governance

the third rank. The governance category received better coverage in

all the four dailies. Overall, Science and technology, SC/ST and women

category did not receive adequate coverage in the front page of the

151
four newspapers, and woman category received 2.8 % news item in

Times of India. Sport was also highlighted in the two English and one

Hindi daily the Dainik Jagran although Amar Ujala accorded negligible

percentage to sport category.

Inside pages

The analysis examined the coverage given to different subject

categories in the inside pages, and Table 17 shows details of coverage

given by four dailies to different categories in the inside pages. Law

and order news dominated as number one rank in the Times of India

(23%) and Dainik Jagran(29.4%). In Hindustan Times development

was given utmost importance (24%) followed by law and order

(20.4%). Both economy and sports are important categories in Times

of India, Hindustan Times and Amar Uajal but these categories were

ranked the lowest in Dainik Jagran. SC/ST and Science and

Technology remained largely the most neglected category in all the

four newspapers.

Space. Table 18 presents details of space allocated to different

categories in the inside pages. Like frequency of news items all four

dailies allocated the highest percentage of space in the inside pages to

law and Order category of news. In case of law & order, Times of India,

law and order (17.7%) Hindustan Times (21.8%), Amar Ujala(24.1%)

and by Dainik Jagran (29%) gave first rank to the category. The Times

of India gave development (15.9%) and sport (15.8%) second rank

and third respectively. Dainik Jagran (19.6%) ranked development as

152
second followed by governance (13.1%). In case of Amar Ujala

governance (16.5%) followed by development (15.5%) occupied

second and third ranks respectively. The Hindustan Times covered

development (14.7%) followed by economy (13.4%) and sport

(12.4%) in descending order. The Hindi news papers Amar Ujala and

Dainik Jagran allocated mostly the second and fourth rank to

political category respectively whereas the English newspapers – The

Times of India and the Hindustan Times allocated sixth rank and

third rank to political category, and in these two dailies economy

obtained fourth rank. Further analysis shows that all dailies gave less

than 3% to women category news and less than 1% to the SC /ST

category.

153
Table 18
Percentage distribution of space by subject categories in the inside pages of the sample dailies
D A I L I E S

Categories Times of India Hindustan Times Amar Ujala Dainik Jagran

Space % Rank order Space % Rank order Space % Rank order Space % Rank order

Politics 3213.8 10.5 6 5890.9 13.4 3 8598.2 17 2 6331.9 12.5 4

Development 4875 15.9 2 6478 14.7 2 7847 15.5 4 10022 19.6 2
Governance and
2972 9.7 7 4631 10.5 6 8378 16.5 3 6661.3 13.1 3
official work
Law and order, etc. 5412 17.7 1 9596 21.8 1 12225 24.1 1 14800 29 1
Accidents and
732.4 2.4 8 373.9 0.6 11 659.1 1.3 9 2147 4.2 7
disasters
Science and
123 0.4 11 577 1.4 10 556.5 1.1 10 334.27 0.7 11
technology
Arts, films and
182.1 0.6 10 1120 2.6 8 193.9 0.4 11 398.26 0.8 10
amusements
Sports 4824 15.8 3 5447 12.4 5 4726 9.3 5 2053 4 8
General human
3847 12.6 5 3091 7.1 7 3263 6.4 6 3945.7 7.7 5
interest
SC/ST 100.1 0.3 12 7.4 0.1 12 61.1 0.1 12 152.6 0.4 12
Women 453.7 1.5 9 867 2 9 1142 2.3 8 902.5 1.8 9

Economic activity 3863 12.6 4 5886 13.4 4 3011 6 7 3260.1 6.2 6

N= 30597 100 43965 100 50661 100 51009 100

154
State news in inside pages. Table19 explainsthepercentage

distribution of frequency of news items and space to state under

different subject categories in the inside pages. The four newspapers,

Dainik Jagran (18.2%) allocated more percentage of news items to

politics as compared to other newspapers – Times of India (11.1%),

Hindustan Times (8.1%), and Amar Ujala (7.3%). However, in terms of

space, Amar Ujala (13.9%), allocated more space to politics as

compared to other three newspapers – Times of India (8.3%),

Hindustan Times (11.7%), and Dainik Jagran (11.6%). Further,

Hindustan Times allocated the highest percentage of frequency of

news items to development category (41.7%) as compared to other

categories. Also, the same newspaper accorded one-fourth of the total

frequency of news items to law and order. Moreover, other three

newspapers also allocated more space to law and order categories

keeping in view the importance of the issue. Economic activity

category received less than 2% in all the four newspapers in the state

category.

National news in inside pages. Table 20 presents details of distribution

of frequency of news items to national news in the inside pages. It is

evident from the table that, the three newspapers – Times of India,

Hindustan Times and Dainik Jagran have given more coverage to

politics as compared to Amar Ujala in terms of frequency of news

items. But in terms of space, Amar Ujala (22.2%) gave more space to

the politics category as compared to other categories – Times of India

155
(12.5%), Hindustan Times (14.5%), and Dainik Jagran (14.3%). In

contrast, for the law and order category Times of India and Amar Ujala

gave more frequency of news items than space. Overall, all the four

newspapers gave more coverage to the economic activity category

both in terms of frequency of news items, and space. Further,

accidents and disaster, science and technology, art and films, SC/ST

and women categories received negligible percentage in the inside

pages in all the four newspapers in terms of frequency of news items

andspace.

156
Table 19
Percentage distribution of frequency of news items to state news by subject categories in inside pages
Categories D A I L I E S
Times of India Hindustan Times Amar Ujala Dainik Jagran
fr % Space % fr % Space % fr % Space % fr % Space %
Politics 116 11.1 1192 8.3 138 8.1 2071.6 11.7 325 7.3 4454.8 13.9 658 18.2 4053.1 11.6
Development 189 18.1 3749.1 26 714 41.7 5176.7 29 407 9.2 6124 19 657 19 9115.8 26
Governance and official
116 11.1 1358.9 9.4 121 7.1 1549.6 8.7 492 11 5970 19 456 13 3974.2 11
work
Law and order, etc. 262 25 2795.9 19 381 22.3 3409.4 19 836 19 8247 26 1146 32 11795 34
Accidents and disasters 26 2.5 414.5 2.9 24 1.4 193.9 1.1 57 1.3 520.3 1.6 101 2.9 1247.7 3.6
Science and technology 4 0.4 38.1 0.3 8 0.5 84.7 0.5 11 0.2 333.2 1 5 0.1 51.2 0.1
Arts,films and
10 1 100.8 0.7 11 0.6 232.9 1.3 213 4.8 97.54 0.3 8 0.2 66.9 0.2
amusements
Sports 110 10.5 1569.1 11 79 4.6 1855.6 10 808 18 2639 8.3 64 1.8 705.5 2
General human interest 172 16.4 2614.6 18 157 9.2 2340.6 13 1057 24 2115 6.6 312 8.8 2963.2 8.5
SC/ST 2 0.2 100.1 0.7 1 0.1 2 0 8 0.2 44.07 0.1 14 0.4 81.7 0.2
Women 25 2.4 301.4 2.1 54 3.2 599.1 3.4 181 4.1 953.9 3 80 2.3 698.5 2
Economic activity 15 1.4 197.9 1.4 23 1.3 238.5 1.3 39 0.9 420.6 1.3 37 1 242.3 0.7
N= 1047 100 14432.4 100 1711 100 17754.6 100 4434 100 31918 100 3538 100 34996 100

157
Table 20
Percentage distribution of frequency of news items to National news by subject categories in inside pages

D A I L I E S

Categories Times of India Hindustan Times Amar Ujala Dainik Jagran

fr % Space % fr % Space % fr % Space % fr % Space %

Politics 217 17 2022 12.5 222 13.4 3819.6 14.5 280 6.3 4143.5 22.2 206 14.5 2278.5 14.3
Development 75 5.9 1126 7 96 5.8 1301.7 5 146 3.3 1723 9.2 82 5.6 906 5.7
Governance and
147 11.5 1613 10 225 14 3081.4 11.8 204 4.5 2408 13 213 15 2687 16.8
official work
Law and order,
273 21.3 2616 16 306 18 6186.3 23.6 402 8.9 3979 21 325 22 3005 18.8
etc.
Accidents and
21 1.6 318 2 24 1.4 179.9 0.7 12 0.3 138.8 0.7 52 3.5 899.3 5.6
disasters
Science and
8 0.6 84.9 0.5 21 1.3 492.4 1.9 19 0.4 223.2 1.2 12 0.8 283.1 1.7
technology
Arts, films and
7 0.6 81.3 0.5 25 1.5 886.7 3.4 164 3.7 96.4 0.5 36 2.5 331.4 2.1
amusements
Sports 212 16.6 3255 20 181 11 3591.4 13.7 700 16 2087 11 134 9.1 1348 8.4
General human
66 5.2 1232 7.6 73 4.4 749.9 2.9 691 15 1148 6.1 109 7.4 982.4 6.1
interest
SC/ST 1 0.1 0 0 2 0.1 5.4 0 2 0 17.04 0.1 12 0.8 70.9 0.4
Women 12 0.9 152 0.9 22 1.3 267.9 1 17 0.4 188.3 1 23 1.6 204 1.3
Economic
241 18.8 3665 23 466 28 5647.6 21.5 1855 41 2591 14 267 18 3018 18.8
activity
N= 1280 100 16165.2 100 1663 100 26210.2 100 4492 100 18743 100 1471 100 16014 100

158
 Chapter V
Political Themes: An analysis

India has come a long way since the launching of the first political

party, Indian National Congress in 1885. Since then many political

parties have contested the elections, have won and lost. In 2014, the

Election Commission conducted the16th general election where 66

percent of over 800 million eligible voters cast their ballots. More than

10 million polling officials and security personnel staffed around

930,000 polling stations on May 16, 2014 (Bella Mody, 2015).

Nevertheless, among the 16 political parties in the state of Uttar

Pradesh, six big political parties were in the fray in the elections in

2014. Therefore, the present study focuses on the coverage given to

the political parties during these elections table 21 presents the

percentage distribution of frequency of news items to political theme

(See Figure 1). The coverage of news is analyzed in terms of allocation

of frequency of news items to nine recognized political parties in Uttar

Pradesh – Indian National Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party,

Communist Party of India, Bahujan Samaj Party, Samajwadi Party, and

other political parties. Out of these six political parties, five are

national parties- Congress, BJP, CPI((M), CPI and BSP the remaining

SP, JD (S), JD (U),TMC, and Siva Sena are regional parties which are

very active in Uttar Pradesh.

Table 21 explains percentage distribution of political themes. The four

papers have allocated more percentage of news to the BJP as

159
compared to the Congress Party. However, BJP received nearly 30%

and above in the four newspapers, while Congress Party received

between 20% to 30% in all the four newspapers. Further, the ruling

Samajwadi Party received more than 20% percent in Amar Ujala,

Dainik Jagran while Times of India and Hindustan Times allocated 9.1%

to 11.4% respectively to Samajwadi Party. However, Bahaujan Samaj

Party which once ruled the state received less percentage of coverage

as compared to Aam Aadmi Party , which emerged recently in 2014

elections. But, the coverage of news for all the political parties in the

four newspapers has closely correlated (Table 22). It is found the

Times of India published a mean of 8.4 news items on political parties

during the study period, while the Hindustan times published 9.4

mean news items. The other two Hindi newspapers -Amar Ujala and

Dainik Jagran published a mean of 12.1 and 12.5 news items

respectively during the one-year study period. The analysis of

variance of frequency of political news have significantly deferred

p<.05.

160
Table 21
Percentage distribution of frequency of news items on politics
news by themes
D A I L I E S
Sub Times of India Hindustan Times Amar Ujala Dainik Jagran
theme Rank Rank Rank Rank
% % % %
Order Order Order Order
Congress 108 30.6 2 109 27.7 2 116 22.8 2 121 23.1 2
BJP 117 33.1 1 114 28.9 1 196 38.6 1 171 32.6 1
SP 32 9.1 4 45 11.4 4 105 20.7 3 118 22.5 3
BSP 9 2.5 6 10 2.4 7 26 5.1 5 27 5.2 5
AAP 44 12.5 3 59 15 3 34 6.7 4 49 9.4 4
CPIM 2 0.6 10 1 0.3 11 1 0.2 11 - - -
CPI 2 0.6 10 2 0.5 10 - - 12 - - -
NCP 4 1.1 8 5 1.3 8 6 1.2 7 1 0.2 10
SS 5 1.4 7 3 0.8 9 5 1 8 10 1.9 7
PP - - 12 - - 12 1 0.2 11 1 0.2 9
TMC 3 0.8 9 29 7.3 5 2 0.3 10 4 0.8 8
RLD 1 0.3 11 5 1.3 8 4 0.8 9 1 0.1 11
OTH 26 7.4 5 12 3.1 6 12 2.4 6 21 4 6
N= 353 100 394 100 508 100 524 100

161
Table 22
Correlation coefficients of frequencies of politics news items by themes among four
sample dailies
Times of Hindustan Amar Dainik
India Times Ujala Jagran
Times of India
Hindustan Times 0.969
Amar Ujala 0.901 0.9
Dainik Jagran 0.903 0.91 0.988

Table 23
Analysis of variance of frequencies of politics news items in four newspapers

ANOVA
Source of P-
SS df MS F F crit
Variation value
Between Groups 1501.1 3 500.4 0.19 0.9 2.79
Within Groups 126323 48 2631.7
Total 127825 51
*P <.05

Space
Table 24 presents details of allocation of space to different political

parties. Like frequencies of news items even allocation of space to the

BJP party is found to be more than 30 percent in all the four

newspapers, while Congress Party received above 20 percent. Also,

Samajwadi Party received more space than BSP, but less than AAP.

Other parties like Shiv Sena, Peace Party, Trinamool Congress and

Nationalist Congress Party received negligible space in all the four

newspapers.

162
Table 24
Percentage distribution of space by political theme in sample dailies
D A I L I E S
Hindustan
Sub Times of India Amar Ujala Dainik Jagran
Times
theme
Space % Space % Space % Space %

Congress 1533 25.3 1417 23.7 1888 26.5 1303 21.1

BJP 2013 33.2 2002 33.5 2764 38.8 2641 42.8
SP 822 13.6 783 13.1 1725 24.2 1109 18
BSP 133 2.2 117 2 226 3.2 355 5.7
AAP 862 14.2 1122 18.8 318 4.5 454 7.4
CPIM 18.6 0.3 2.7 - 1.9 - - -
CPI 17.4 0.3 14.6 0.2 - - - -
NCP 50.3 0.8 61.2 1 26.4 0.4 2.7 -
SS 111 1.8 57.3 1 67 0.9 115 1.7
PP - - - - 25.4 0.4 10.2 0.2
TMC 58.7 1 169 2.8 7.2 0.1 20.5 0.4
RLD 13.3 0.2 84.1 1.4 8.9 0.1 13.2 0.3
OTH 432 7.1 149 2.5 63.6 0.9 144 2.4
N= 6064.3 100 5978.9 100 7121.4 100 6167.6 100

Front Page
Table 25 discusses the news coverage given to the political parties on

the front page. During the study period it is found that the BJP has got

a slightly more coverage than Congress Party in three newspapers,

Times of India, Hindustan Times and Amar Ujala, while Dainik Jagran

has covered Congress Party more than BJP on the front page. But in

terms of space Dainik Jagran has more coverage for the BJP as

compared to the Congress Party. An interesting phenomenon in 2014

newspaper coverage is that two English newspapers gave more

163
coverage to AAP than SP and BSP combined together. On the other

hand AAP has not received more coverage on the front page in the two

Hindi dailies. The CPI did not receive any coverage in all the four

papers on the front page.

Table 25
Distribution of frequency of news items and allocation of space
to politics parties on front page
D A I L I E S
Dainik
Sub theme Times of India Hindustan Times Amar Ujala
Jagran
fr Space fr Space fr Space fr Space
Congress 46 904 14 319 15 550 29 496
BJP 49 1132 27 732 18 683 21 585
SP 13 568 10 297 13 573 15 358
BSP 4 62.7 - - 3 32.6 3 85.8
AAP 23 705 22 607 2 55.1 6 113
CPIM 1 7.1 - - - - - -
CPI - - - - - - -
NCP 1 26.9 1 16.9 - - - -
SS 4 94.6 1 22.5 - - 2 22.7
PP - - - - 1 25.4 - -
TMC 2 34.1 15 - - - - -
RLD - - 2 32.6 - - - -
OTH 12 251 - - - - 1 7.3
N= 155 3785.4 92 2027 52 1919 77 1667.8

Inside pages

Table 26 gives details of political coverage of different political parties

in inside pages in terms of frequency of news items and space. It is

evident that more than half of news items and space are dedicated to

two political parties- the Congress and BJP under political category in

164
the inside pages in all the four newspapers. The remaining percentage

nearly one-fifth of frequency of news items and space are dedicated to

Samajwadi Party and Aam Aadmi party. CPI did not receive any news

coverage in Amar Ujala and Dainik Jagran. While Peace Party did not

receive any coverage in Times of India, Hindustan Times and Amar

Ujala, the other political parties Nationalist Congress Party, Shiv Sena,

Trinamool Congress and Rashtriya Lok Dal received negligible

coverage.

It is found from table 27 that two parties- the Congress and BJP

consistently received more than half of the space and frequency under

state category. Nationalist Congress Party, Peace Party, Trinamool

Congress did not figure under the state category. The remaining

political parties AAP followed by SP and BSP received coverage under

national news.

165
 Table 27
Table 26
Percentage distribution of frequency of news items and space by politics parties in inside pages
D A I L I E S
Sub
Times of India Hindustan Times Amar Ujala Dainik Jagran
theme
fr % Space % fr % Space % fr % Space % fr % Space %
Congress 50 30.1 601 27.3 83 32.8 1069.4 28 97 22 1329 26 72 19 765.6 18
BJP 61 36.7 865 39.2 70 27.7 1235.1 32 173 40 2075 40 129 34.1 1999 46
SP 17 10.3 251 11.4 32 12.6 475.8 12 92 21 1152 22 91 24.1 729 17
BSP 5 3 70.3 3.2 10 3.9 116.5 3 22 5 190.3 3.7 22 5.8 261.4 6.1
AAP 11 6.6 132 6 26 10.3 485.4 13 23 5.3 251.7 4.9 29 7.7 287.4 6.6
CPIM 1 0.6 11.5 0.5 1 0.4 2.7 0.1 1 0.2 1.9 - - - - -
CPI 2 1.2 17.4 0.8 2 0.8 14.6 0.4 - - - - - - - -
NCP 2 1.2 20.8 0.9 4 1.6 44.4 1.2 6 1.4 26.4 0.5 1 0.3 2.7 0.1
SS 1 0.6 16.1 0.7 2 0.9 34.8 0.9 5 1.1 67 1.3 8 2.1 92 2.1
PP - - - - - - - - - - - - 1 0.3 10.2 0.2
TMC 1 0.6 24.6 1.1 10 3.9 169.1 4.4 2 0.5 7.2 0.1 4 1.1 20.5 0.5
RLD 1 0.6 13.3 0.6 3 1.2 51.5 1.3 4 0.9 8.9 0.2 1 0.3 13.2 0.3
OTH 14 8.5 181 8.3 10 3.9 145.1 3.7 12 2.6 63.6 1.3 20 5.2 136.2 3.1
N= 166 100 2204 100 253 100 3844.4 100 437 100 5173 100 378 100 4317.2 100

166
Distribution of frequency of news items to State news by politics parties in inside pages
D A I L I E S
Sub theme Times of India Hindustan Times Amar Ujala Dainik Jagran
fr in % fr in % fr in % fr in %
Congress 18 25.7 23 21.3 32 13.3 33 14.7
BJP 22 31.5 36 33.3 88 36.5 79 35.3
SP 16 22.9 31 28.7 85 35.3 80 35.6
BSP 3 4.3 9 8.3 18 7.5 13 5.8
AAP 4 5.7 3 2.8 9 3.7 12 5.4
CPIM - - 1 0.9 1 0.3 - -
CPI 1 1.4 2 1.9 - - - -
NCP - - - - - - - -
SS - - - - - - 1 0.5
PP - - - - - - - -
TMC - - - - - - - -
RLD 1 1.4 2 1.9 4 1.7 1 0.5
OTH 5 7.1 1 0.9 4 1.7 5 2.2

N= 70 100 108 100 241 100 224 100

167
Table28
Percentage distribution of frequency of news items and space to National news by politics themes in inside pages

D A I L I E S

Sub
Times of India Hindustan Times Amar Ujala Dainik Jagran
theme

fr % Space % fr % Space % fr % Space % fr % Space %

Congress 32 33.3 389.1 33.7 60 41.2 842 36.5 65 33.2 746.7 33.6 39 25.4 455.2 28.4
BJP 39 40.6 469.1 40.7 34 23.5 570.6 24.7 85 43.3 1041.7 46.8 50 32.5 558.4 34.7
SP 1 1 23.9 2.1 1 0.7 13.1 0.6 7 3.7 118.4 5.3 11 7.2 100.8 6.3
BSP 2 2.2 43.6 3.8 1 0.7 15.9 0.7 4 2 21.6 1 9 5.8 122.8 7.7
AAP 7 7.3 55.3 4.8 23 15.9 457.1 19.8 14 7.1 149.3 6.7 17 11 153.2 9.6
CPIM 1 1 11.5 0.9 - - - - - - - - - - - -
CPI 1 1 7.2 0.6 - - - - - - - - - - - -
NCP 2 2.2 20.8 1.8 4 2.8 44.4 1.9 6 3.1 26.4 1.2 1 0.6 2.7 0.2
SS 1 1 16.2 1.4 2 1.4 34.8 1.5 5 2.5 67 3 7 4.6 90.6 5.6
PP - - - - - - - - - - - - 1 0.6 4.1 0.3
TMC 1 1 24.6 2.1 10 6.9 169.1 7.3 2 1 7.2 0.3 4 2.6 20.5 1.3
RLD - - - - 1 0.7 18.4 0.8 - - - - - - - -
OTH 9 9.4 91.9 8.1 9 6.2 141.7 6.2 8 4.1 46.7 2.1 15 9.7 95.1 5.9
N= 96 100 1153.2 100 145 100 2307.1 100 196 100 2225 100 154 100 1603.4 100

168
Direction of Analysis

In the present study, an attempt was made to assess the direction of

treatment given to the 13 sub-themes under political category. As stated

earlier in Chapter III, the coefficient of imbalance was used to find out the

degree of treatment given to different sub-themes by the sample dailies.

For this purpose, a three-point scale namely favourable, unfavourable

and neutral was adopted to assess the direction of treatment given to the

sub-themes. The aim of this analysis is to capture the aspects of the

political processes which were made explicit by the newspaper while

giving coverage to the political parties. For instance, a news item

highlighting the strength, growth, and positive aspects of a political party

can be designated as favourable story to that party. Another politics–

related news item may cover explicit conflicts involved in the political

party or process can be designated as an unfavourable news story to that

political party (For further details, see Chapter III on Methodology).

Table 29 shows the direction of analysis of news items related to political

news. The study took into consideration only 1779 news items from four

newspapers put together which are amenable for direction of analysis in

terms of favorable, unfavorable and neutral: The Times of India (353),

Hindustan Times (394), Amar Ujala (508), and Dainik Jagran (524). The

three newspapers (Times of India, Hindustan Times and Amar Ujala)

covered the political news positively but with a variation and the

exception was Dainik Jagran. Dainik Jagran covered them highly critically

169
with more unfavourable news (-0.03). Further analysis shows that The

Times of India covered Congress with less number of favorable (34) news

items and more unfavourable (49). Hindustan Times published more

favorable news items(49) news items and less unfavourable (29) for

Congress. The two Hindi newspapers differed with the two English

newspapers. Amar Ujala published 48 favourable and 39 unfavourable

news items for Congress while Dainik Jagran published only 32

favourable and 70 unfavourable news items for Congress. Therefore,

Hindustan Times shows a positive approach for Congress while Dainik

Jagran ran a very critical and unfavourable campaign of publication

against the Congress.

More over, the two English dailies – The Times of India (63) and

Hindustan Times (55) covered BJP with more favorable news, and the

Hindi dailies - Amar Ujala (98) and Dainik Jagran (74) also covered the

party with favorable news (Table 30). This shows that although BJP was

supported by all the four newspapers but Amar Ujala covered the party

with much more favourable news items. The third favourable political

party for English dailies was AAP which had a favourable coverage by

Times of India and Hindustan Times. In fact a lot of disparity regarding

coverage of AAP can be seen in the Hindi dailies where on the one hand

Amar Ujala covered AAP with more favourable news but Dainik Jagran

was highly critical of AAP. It is pertinent to mention here that AAP was

given a third rank in coverage by the English dailies and SP was given the

170
third rank in case of Hindi dailies. The Samajwadi Party which is

governing Uttar Pradesh since 2012 was also given more favourable news

by the English dailies. Although in Hindi dailies, Amar Ujala gave 36

favourable and 35 unfavourable news items on SP but here again a highly

critical Dainik Jagran gave 53 unfavourable news items for SP and only 40

favourable news items for SP (Table 30).

Table 31 explained the theme-wise coefficients of imbalance. The Times

of India (-.06) covered Congress Party negatively as compared to

Hindustan Times (+.08) which gave positive tone to the Congress party.

The other two Hindi papers show disparity. Amar Ujala (.03) covered

Congress favourably but Dainik Jagran(-.18) was highly critical of the

Congress Party. In case of BJP, with equal support from The Times of India

(+.0.11) and Amar Ujala(+0.11). Dainik jagran (+.043) and Hindustan

Times(+0.1) also covered BJP favourably. Further, in case of SP, the state

ruling party, the three newspapers - The Times of India ( .05), Amar Ujala

and Hindustan Times (.05) covered it favourably, but Dainik Jagran (- .05)

is critical and unfavourable to the partys.

171
Table 29
Directional analysis of coverage of the total politics news items in all the
sample dailies

Direction of coverage
Dailies Coefficient of imbalance
n F UF Ne
Times of India 353 159 132 62 0.03
Hindustan
394 169 108 117 0.07
Times
Amar Ujala 508 215 152 141 0.05
Dainik Jagran 524 186 225 113 -0.03

172
Table l30
Direction of analysis of the politics news items by newspaper
Hindustan Amar Dainik
Times of India
Times Ujala Jagran
F UF Neu F UF Neu F UF Neu F UF Neu
Congress 34 49 25 49 29 31 48 39 29 32 70 19
BJP 63 40 14 55 31 28 98 56 42 74 57 40
SP 17 14 1 21 16 8 36 35 34 40 53 25
BSP 4 3 2 5 2 3 10 9 7 14 13 -
AAP 19 18 7 23 20 16 14 8 12 14 20 15
CPIM 1 - 1 - - 1 - - 1 - - -
CPI 2 - - 1 - 1 - - - - - -
NCP 1 1 2 2 3 - 2 - 4 1 - -

SS 2 2 1 3 - - 2 3 - 2 6 2
PP - - - - - - - - 1 - 1 -
TMC 2 1 - 4 4 21 - - 2 - - 4
RLD 1 - - 3 2 - 2 - 2 - - 1
OTH 13 4 9 3 1 8 3 2 7 9 5 7

Total 159 132 62 169 108 117 215 152 141 186 225 113

173
Table 31
Theme-wise coefficients of imbalance of politics news items in the sample dailies

D A I L I E S
Hindustan Amar Dainik
Sub theme Times of India
Times Ujala Jagran
Congress -0.06 0.08 0.03 -0.18
BJP 0.11 0.1 0.11 0.043
SP 0.05 0.05 0 -0.05
BSP 0.05 0.15 0.01 0.02
AAP 0.01 0.02 0.07 -0.05
CPIM 0.25 - - -
CPI 1 0.25 - -
NCP - -0.1 0.11 1
SS - 1 -0.12 -0.24
PP - - - -
TMC 0.22 - - -
RLD 1 0.12 0.25 -
OTH 0.17 0.04 0.02 0.08

174
Table 32
Percentage distribution of editorials by subject categories in the sample dailies
D A I L I E S
Categories Times of India Hindustan Times Amar Ujala Dainik Jagran
fr % fr % Fr % fr %
Politics 20 37 22 34 15 31.9 27 34.2
Development 6 11.1 3 4.6 6 12.8 9 11.3
Governance and
10 18.5 10 15.2 4 8.5 15 19
official work
Law and order,
8 14.8 15 23.1 8 17 20 25.3
etc.
Accidents and
- - - - - - 1 1.3
disasters
Science and
- - 1 1.5 1 2.1 1 1.3
technology
Arts, films and
2 3.7 - - - - - -
amusements
Sports 1 1.9 1 1.5 4 8.5 - -
General human
- - 2 3.2 3 6.4 5 6.3
interest
SC/ST 1 1.9 - - - - - -
Women 2 3.7 5 7.7 2 4.3 1 1.3
Economic
4 7.4 6 9.2 4 8.5 - -
activity
N= 54 100 65 100 47 100 79 100

175
Editorials
The present study proposes to analyze the contents of editorials of

select newspapers; the importance of editorials needs to be

understood in the context of political communication. Normally,

editorials raise the awareness of readers on various aspects of society

by discussing the pros and cons of these aspects. Further, editorials

form a public opinion on an issue while critically evaluating the

implications of an issue on the public to make the government think of

it. Duyile (2005) views that an ‘editorial as a comment or an argument

in support of a particular policy, an action, or an idea whether

expressed or latent. It can be an argument exhibiting the logical

reasoning of the newspaper using the purpose of persuading the

readers to kick against an idea, policy or an action based on facts

available’. However, Ate (2008:3) says that ‘the posture of an editorial

is influenced by the policy and philosophy of the newspaper,

ownership structure and the political environment in which the

newspaper is operating’. Thus, Izadi and Saghaye-Biria(2007) observe

that ‘editorials are usually organized along three schematic categories.

They define the situation, and give a summary of the event. They

present an evaluation of the situation-especially of actions and actors’.

Moreover, newspapers as an institution in society have a greater

responsibility to comment on issues of public interest and therefore

each editorial reflects the policy of the newspaper. Hence the agenda

of the newspaper can be understood from the editorial. Therefore, the

present study makes an attempt to analyze the editorials to ascertain

176
their focus on specific issues of political nature whether they deal with

political parties or political issues. Since editorials are different from

news items, their analysis directly yields the stance of a newspaper on

a specific issue.

The study finds out that the four newspapers published more than 30

percent of the editorials on political theme. Two English newspapers

Times of India and Hindustan Times published more editorials on

governance and official works and law and order respectively. But, the

two Hindi newspapers gave more priority to law and order next to

politics. The Times of India wrote an editorial on SC/ST category, while

other three newspapers wrote one editorial each on science and

technology. Three newspapers namely Times of India, Hindustan Times

and Amar Ujala did not write a single editorial on accidents and

disaster, while Dainik Jagran wrote one editorial on the same subject.

Further, the three newspapers Times of India, Hindustan Times, Amar

Ujala wrote editorial on economic activity, while Dainik Jagran did not

publish single editorial on the same subject (Table 32).

177
Table 33
Frequency distribution of editorials by regional focus in different subject
categories
D A I L I E S
Times Hindusta Dainik
Categories Amar Ujala
of India n Times Jagran
S N S N S N S N
1
Politics 1 19 1 21 3 5 22
2
Development 1 5 - 3 2 4 2 7
Governance and
- 10 - 10 - 4 1 14
official work
Law and order, etc. - 8 - 15 - 8 2 18

Accidents and disasters - - - - - - - 1

Science and technology - - - 1 - 1 - 1
Arts, films and
1 1 - - - - - -
amusements
Sports - 1 - 1 1 3 - -

General human interest - - - 2 - 3 3 2

SC/ST 1 - - - - - - -
Women - 2 - 5 - 2 - 1
Economic activity - 4 - 6 - 4 - -
4
N= 4 50 1 64 6 13 66
1

Table 33 shows break-up of editorials by regional focus in the political

theme. The four newspapers dedicated more number of editorials to

the national category. But, in the two Hindi newspapers more

editorials on state category appeared as compared to two English

dailies on state politics. Next to politics editorials appeared on

governance and official works on the national category in all the four

newspapers. However, law and order category received more

editorials on the national issues in the two dailies namely, Hindustan

Times and Dainik Jagran. Furthermore, Table 34 shows the break-up

178
 of editorials in terms of regional focus – state and national. Dainik

Jagran dedicated nine editorials to Congress Party, while the same

paper dedicated six editorials to the BJP at the national level. In

contrast Amar Ujala did not write a single editorial on Congress party.

But the Times of India and Hindustan Times wrote five and three

editorials respectively on the Congress Party at the national level and

these two newspapers did not write a single editorial on Congress

party on state issue. These two English dailies did not write a single

editorial on the state issues of the BJP. Further, CPI (M), BSP, CPI, NCP,

SS, PP, RLD did not figure in editorials.

Table 34
Party-wise break-up of editorials in the sample dailies
D A I L I E S
Sub theme Times of India Hindustan Times Amar Ujala Dainik Jagran
S N S N S N S N
Congress - 5 - 3 - - - 9
BJP - 3 - 7 1 2 - 6
SP 1 - - 1 - - 4 3
BSP - - - - - - - -
AAP - 4 - 2 - 5 1 -
CPIM - - - - - - - -
CPI - - - - - - - -
NCP - - - - - - - -
SS - - - - - - - -
PP - - - - - - - -
TMC - - 1 3 - - - -
RLD - - - - - - - -
OTH - - - 1 - - - -
N= 1 12 1 17 1 7 5 18

179
Letters-to-the editor

Citizens feedback is important in a democracy as the rulers know the

public opinion. Often the political parties and the government make

attempts to ascertain the public opinion on various issues.

Newspapers are considered a carrier of information to the

government from the people and vice versa. They play an important

role to give adequate coverage to the citizen’s opinion. In this process,

letters-to-the editor help the government as well as political parties

understand the citizens’ perception of the governance, and also the

role of political parties in society and hence newspapers play a

responsible role in the selection and publication of letters. Since

content analysis is an unobtrusive method, it can analyze the manifest

content in the letters to the editor column. Thus, the present study

analyzed the letter-to-the editor column to ascertain the importance

given by the newspapers to different political parties in the column by

focusing on different issues.

Table 35 explains frequency of letters to the editor that figured under

different subject categories in the sample dailies. The four newspapers

published more than one-fourth of letters under political category.

The Times of India (41.5%) published more percentage of letters

followed by Dainik Jagran (30.5%), Amar Ujala (27.5) and Hindustan

Times (25.7%). About, other subject categories, The Times of India,

ranked development in second while Hindustan Times ranked

economic activity in the second place. Among the two Hindi

180
newspapers development ranked first in Amar Ujala followed by

politics and in contrast Dainik Jagran first ranked politics followed by

development. Mostly law and order ranked third in three newspapers,

the Times of India, Hindustan Times and Dainik Jagran, while

governance and official works ranked third in Amar Ujala. Further

analysis of letters to the editorial in terms of regional focus shows that

all the four newspapers dedicated more letters to editor to politics,

under the national category. Among the four newspapers Dainik

Jagran dedicated more letters to editor under national category

followed by Hindustan Times, The Times of India, and Amar Ujala

(Table 36).

Table 37 shows letters to the editor figured under different political

parties. AAP and BJP were given more letters under national category

in Dainik Jagran. Further, Hindustan Times published more letters

under the category of national issues for the BJP party, while the Times

of India published more letters on Congress party under national

category. Interestingly, none of these four newspapers published any

letter for CPI (M), CPI, SS, PP, TMC and RLD.

181
Table 35
Frequency of letters-to-the editor by subject categories in the sample dailies
D A I L I E S

Times of India Hindustan Times Amar Ujala Dainik Jagran

Categories

fr fr % fr % fr %
%
Politics 25 41.5 39 25.7 15 27.7 61 30.5
Development 10 16.6 18 11.8 17 31.3 41 20.5
Governance and
7 11.7 25 16.4 9 16.7 29 14.5
official work

Law and order, etc. 7 11.7 26 17.1 6 11.1 31 15.5

Accidents and disasters - - - - - - 5 2.5

Science and technology 1 1.7 1 0.7 1 1.9 - -

Arts, films and

- - 1 0.7 1 1.9 1 0.5
amusements
Sports 1 1.7 2 1.3 3 5.6 2 1

General human interest 6 10 7 4.6 1 1.9 26 13

SC/ST 1 1.7 1 0.7 - - - -

Women 1 1.7 1 0.7 1 1.9 1 0.5

Economic activity 1 1.7 31 20.3 - - 3 1.5

N= 60 100 152 100 54 100 200 100

182
Table 36
Frequency of letters-to-the editor by regional focus in the sample dailies
D A I L I E S
Hindustan Dainik
Categories Times of India Amar Ujala
Times Jagran
S N S N S N S N
Politics 2 23 3 36 3 12 6 55
Development - 10 3 15 6 11 10 31
Governance and
1 6 1 24 4 5 3 26
official work
Law and order,
- 7 - 26 2 4 7 24
etc.
Accidents and
- - - - - - 4 1
disasters
Science and
- 1 - 1 1 - - -
technology
Arts, films and
- - - 1 1 - - 1
amusements
Sports - 1 - 2 - 3 - 2
General human
- 6 - 7 - 1 6 20
interest
SC/ST - 1 - 1 - - - -
Women - 1 - 1 1 - - 1
Economic
- 1 28 3 - - - 3
activity
N= 3 57 35 117 18 36 36 164

183
Table 37
Party-wise break-up of letters-to the editor in the sample dailies
D A I L I E S
Sub
theme Hindustan Amar Dainik
Times of India
Times Ujala Jagran
S N S N S N S N
Congress - 7 - 9 1 3 - 11
BJP - 4 - 10 - 2 2 13
SP 1 - 1 1 - - 1 4
BSP - - - - - 1 - 2
AAP 1 5 - 9 1 3 - 13
CPIM - - - - - - - -
CPI - - - - - - - -
NCP - 1 - - - - - -
SS - - - - - - - -
PP - - - - - - - -
TMC - - - - - - - -
RLD - - - - - - - -
OTH - - - 1 - - - -
N= 2 17 1 29 2 9 3 43

184
 Chapter VI
Summary and conclusion

With the attainment of independence in 1947, the country under the

leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru went for elections for the first time

after declaring itself as a Republic. The country adopted a constitution

in 1950. The first general elections were conducted in 1951-1952, and

nine political parties contested the elections. Since then, many

political parties came into existence, and the number crossed over

1880 by the end of 2013 which are registered with the Elections

Commission of India. However, the single party, the Congress was in

power from 1952 to 1989 for most of the time except for a brief

period of two years during 1977-79 when the Janata party was in

power. After 1989, the Congress party was out of power from 1989 to

1991 and 1998 to 2004 and came back to power in 2004 and

continued to be in power till 2014 until it lost to BJP.

With the defeat of the Congress Party, political situation in the country

from 1990s onwards, underwent a change and no single party at the

national level won an absolute majority till 2014. Political pundits

described the situation as the coalition politics, where big and small

parties came together to form a government. Simultaneously, the

mediascape in the country was increasingly changing in the mid-

1990s as the satellite television channels were growing with the

expansion of the cable TV. Television or radio news which was

disseminated by Doordarshan and All India Radio respectively, the

185
two government controlled electronic media channels was replaced

by the private TV channels. The political parties searched for new

avenues to disseminate their views, and the intensive political

situation in the 1990s and the beginning of 2000 prompted the

newspapers and television channels to give a democratic space to all

political parties in order to increase their circulation or viewership.

Against this background, the present study was taken up to examine

the stance of four select newspapers in the country on political

parties/issues apart from other important issues in the country.

Particularly, the setting of the study was Uttar Pradesh state which

sends 80 members of parliament, the highest number of seats

represented by the state. Specifically, 12 political parties were in the

fray in Uttar Pradesh during the 16th Lok Sabha elections, and these

elections became significant as the Congress coalition was in power

for 10 years, and the these elections would decide the winner. On the

other hand, the main opposition party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)

aggressively campaigned to dethrone the Congress coalition. Also,

newspapers played a crucial role in the coverage of elections.

Therefore, the present study assumed importance as it made an

attempt to analyze the 2014 elections coverage in four select

newspapers with a focus on political parties with the following

objectives.

186
The specific objectives of the study are to:

1. find out the frequency and the extent of space allocated to the
political themes as compared to other categories of news in the
sample dailies;
2. make a comparative analysis, in terms of frequency and space,
of the differences in the coverage of various categories of news
in the sample of English and Hindi newspapers;
3. ascertain the relative significance given to political themes and
other categories of news by examining the frequency and the
extent of space allocated to different categories of news in the
front page and inside pages of the sample dailies;
4. find out the differences in the frequency and space devoted to
themes related to state and national items in covering political
and other categories of news;
5. find out the direction of treatment given to political themes in
the sample newspapers;
6. find out the frequency and the extent of space allocated to
themes relating to Scheduled Castes / Scheduled Tribes and
women;
7. compare the frequencies of political-related editorials
appearing in the sample newspapers;
8. compare the frequencies of letters to the editor covering
political themes in the sample newspapers, and
9. to offer suggestions, to carry out further research study in
relation to political news coverage in the Indian dailies.
Research design

The purpose of the present study is to ascertain the differential

coverage given to political themes in news, editorials and letters-to

the editor of select newspapers. Four newspapers are selected for this

purpose: two each in English and Hindi. The method of content

analysis was used to compare the content of the sample newspapers.

187
As mentioned earlier, four newspapers were selected for the present

study keeping in view their circulation, geographical location, and the

language. They are: The Times of India, Hindustan Times, Amar Ujala

and Dainik Jagran. The circulation figures of the respective

newspapers were considered as often it was assumed that

newspapers with high circulation would have high readership.

Moreover, two other considerations went into the selection of the two

different language dailies: 1) English being the associate official

language and the main medium of intellectual exchange among the

elite 0in the country, the English dailies are read by majority of policy-

makers, decision-makers and administrators 2) the language

newspapers are read by the masses and reach the majority of the

population in the state.

The universe and the sample. The universe for this study comprises all

the editions of the four selected dailies published during the calendar

years i.e., January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014.Out of this universe, a

sample is selected basing on the following procedure for five years.

Sampling procedure. While selecting the sample, keeping in view the

time and financial resources available for the researcher, it was

thought that a sample of 10% of all the editions of the four

newspapers would be sufficient. This sample, selected randomly,

would be adequate for generalizing to the universe (Stempel, 1952;

Riffe et. al., 1993). Two methods were adopted to select the editions

188
to constitute the study sample: 1) continuous week, and 2)

constructed week.

The sample selection was done in two stages:

i. Stage one. A continuous week sampling method was adopted to

select randomly three continuous weeks (one continuous week

comprises days from Monday to Sunday) from all the weeks in

the designated time period ( But, each year was considered as

January 1, to December 31). In order to select the required

weeks through this method, the sample year was divided into 3

sub-periods, for each year that is, i) January, February, March

and April; ii) May, June, July and August; iii) September,

October, November and December. Then three weeks that is

one each from the three sub-periods were randomly selected

for each year.

ii. Stage two. The second stage comprised a constructed week

method (Budd et. al., 1967). For this purpose seven days of the

week were randomly selected from each sub-period to

construct a week. That means, a Monday, a Tuesday, a

Wednesday, a Thursday, a Friday, a Saturday and a Sunday

were selected randomly from all Mondays, Tuesdays …etc., of

each of the sub-period. Thus, three constructed weeks were

selected from the three sub–periods of the sample year.

Subject categories. Keeping in view of the objectives of the study, 12

main subject categories were identified including one category for

189
politics-related themes. In the present study, the researcher evolved

12 subject categories including a specific theme, politics which

includes particular political parties/issues. Further, the coverage of

the 12 subject categories was analyzed basing on the geographical

dimension. Thus the editorials were divided on the basis of

geographical dimensions into two regions such as state, and national.

All the main subject categories were, in turn, divided into sub-

categories. The following are the 12 main subject-categories with their

sub-categories: Politics, Development , Governance and official works,

Crimes, moral problems, law & order, & court proceedings, Accidents

& disasters, Science & technology, Arts, films & popular amusements,

Sports, General human interest, Scheduled caste / Scheduled tribe,

Women, and Economic activity, travel & transport.

Data coding sheet and analysis. A code sheet was prepared

incorporating the subject categories and geographical categories

mentioned above. The code sheet was pilot-tested by the researcher

on five editions of each of the sample newspapers (i.e., on a total of 20

editions) along with a second trained coder who was a research

scholar in Journalism. Further, necessary changes were made to the

subject categories based on the pre-test and the code sheet was

finalized. After coding all the units of analysis into the code sheet,

tables and cross tables were prepared to test the relationships among

variables. Appropriate statistical tests such as mean, standard

deviation, correlation, analysis of variance and chi-square were used

190
to find out the association and significance of relationships among

variables. Graphs were also developed wherever necessary.

Major findings

Overall, the analysis of four newspapers reveals interesting trends. In

the coverage of subject categories, it is found that the two English

newspapers agree on major issues while regional newspapers agree

on some other issues. Further, English and regional newspapers agree

and disagree on the coverage of political parties.

In the analysis, it is found out that two newspapers –Times of India,

and the Hindustan Times covered national issues much more than

state issues (Table 7). The Times of India allocated (58.8%) of

frequency of news items to national issues, followed by the Hindustan

Times (51.3%). Obviously, Times of India and Hindustan Times though

publish local edition, they lay emphasis on national issues. Because the

English newspapers have wide readership in view of it’s language

advantage, readers belonging to different segments of society who

include people from non-Hindi states read the newspapers. These

newspapers cover national issues much more than the regional

newspapers. Secondly, 2014 was an election year, many news events

took place across the country, and they found a place in the

newspapers. Further, the English newspapers have wide network of

reporters across the country, these newspapers covered many states

representing Southern states of India such as Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil

Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telengana.

191
The other important finding is that three newspapers – Times of India

(22.6%), the Hindustan Times (20.8%) and Dainik Jagran (28.5%) gave

first rank to the subject category of crime, moral problems, law and

order, court proceedings (Table 9). The reason was that Uttar Pradesh

stood first among the 28 states in India with the highest record of

crime rate as reported by Times of India on June 7, 2014.

Uttar Pradesh worst state in terms of law and order: National

Crime Records Bureau

Lucknow, June 6: As the crime rate remains unabated in Uttar

Pradesh- the state with the highest population, has been termed
as the "worst state" in India in terms of law and order by the
National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). The NCRB data
revealed that only 1.8 lakh police personnel is available to take
care of 21 crore population of Uttar Pradesh. The Akhilesh
Yadav- led Samajwadi Party is currently in the eye of storm due
to last week's gangrape and murder incident of two dalit cousin
sisters in Badaun district. Since last month, there have been
spurt in rising crime against women in UP and the SP
government has failed to take a stringent action against
perpetrators. The data revealed that in 2012, when Akhilesh
Yadav became the chief minister of UP, total 33,824 crimes were
reported including 2,000 rapes and 4,966 murders. During BSP
chief Mayawati's regime, 32,987 crimes took place in UP. In
2007, 27,000 crimes and 5,000 murders were reported. In 2004,
when Mulayam Singh Yadav was UP CM, 6,126 murders
happened.

After horrific Badaun gangrape and murder incident shocked

the state, state BJP president Laxmikant Bajpayi said "crime
against women was on the rise and the Akhilesh Yadav-led
Samajwadi Party government has failed in containing the slide-
down. He also said that since Samajwadi Party activists were
involved in most such crimes, police do not act against them.
Under intense criticism over the incident, Akhilesh had earlier
said a Google search would show such crimes occurring across
the country while accusing the media of playing up incidents
taking place in his state. However, Akhilesh's uncle and PWD
minister Shivpal Singh Yadav has criticized the media for
"blowing" criminal incidents out of proportion while ignoring
them in other states. Meanwhile, in the wake of controversial
comments made by her father-in-law Mulayam Singh Yadav and
husband Akhilesh Yadav after the Badaun incident, Kannauj MP

192
 Dimple Yadav on Thursday termed the rising cases of crime
against women as an important "social issue" which needed to
be taken up with "seriousness". Assembly elections will take
place in 2017 in Uttar Pradesh, till then SP can find ways to
control rising crime against women and improve law and order.

It was found in the study that the newspapers reported frequently

crimes like rape/gang rape, dowry harassment, suicides, murder, and

thefts. Most of these news reports focused on rape and dowry

harassment. Thus, the newspapers highlighted crime stories on the

front page and inside pages. This apart, the newspapers, keeping in

view the circulation, sensationalized the stories to attract the readers.

Further analysis reveals that the two regional newspapers played up

stories of crime on the front page while the two English newspapers

covered political stories on the front page more than crime news

(Table 13). Amar Ujala dedicated 27.7% of news stories while Dainik

Jagran allocated (26.1%) of news stories to crime, law & order etc. On

the contrary, Times of India and the Hindustan Times published 35.3%,

and 25.1% of news stories on politics respectively on the front page.

In the inside pages, Times of India and Dainik Jagran gave first rank to

crime, law and order etc category while Hindustan Times ranked

development first and Amar Ujala ranked economic activity first

(Table17). The Hindustan Times focused on transport and

communication, damage done to the rural roads, public transport

facilities in rural areas, healthcare and rural electrification. Thus, the

newspaper gave top priority to development category. Further, Amar

Ujala dedicated more number news items to economic activity such

193
growth of economy, issues related to public sector companies, banking

activities and so on. Therefore, economic activity received the first

rank in the newspaper.

Political news
The major focus of the study is to find out the coverage given to

political parties in 2014 election year. As many as 12 political parties

contested in Uttar Pradesh during the 2014 general elections. In the

coverage of political parties, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) received the

highest coverage in all the four dailies followed by the Congress party

and Aam Admi party in the English dailies. In the two Hindi dailies, BJP

followed by followed by Congress and Samajwadi Party received

highest coverage (Table 21).

In terms of space, the BJP got the highest coverage followed by the

Congress party and AAP in the two English dailies. In contrast, BJP

followed by Congress and SP got the highest coverage order in the two

Hindi dailies (Table 24).

The 2014 elections were fought bitterly by all the political parties. The

BJP was in the opposition for 10 years, while the Congress party-led

United Progressive Alliance was ruling the country. The two main

contenders in the 2014 elections adopted different strategies to win

the elections. Uttar Pradesh being the largest state in terms of

members to be elected to Lok Sabha was the focus of the two political

parties.

194
The star campaigner for the BJP was Narendra Modi, the then Chief

minister of Gujarat while Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi campaigned

for the Congress party apart from other leaders. The newly – founded

party AAP had Arvind Kejriwal as a chief campaigner, Samajwadi

party which is in power in Uttar Pradesh fielded Mulayam Singh Yadav

to campaign for the party. Mayawati campaigned for her party,

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Because these leaders campaigned before

the elections, the four newspapers covered their meetings, public

rallies, press meets and small party events. The main leaders’

campaigns occupied the front page news in all the four newspapers.

Since the news coverage was event–specific they covered all the

accusations, party strengths, allegations, counter–allegations, and the

state of governance and so on. Narendra Modi used “invectives”

against Sonia and Rahul and received more coverage in the elections.

He said, “Maa–Beta ki sarkar” (Mother – son government) received

good coverage in the newspapers.

As counter to this type of campaign the Congress party used Gujarat

riots to corner the BJP campaigner. Moreover, AAP campaigner,

Arvind Kejriwal too received more than 20% of frequency of news

items in the English newspapers –Times of India and Hindustan Times.

Arvind Kejriwal contested from Varanasi constituency against

Narendra Modi and campaigned against Modi with a belief that he

would defeat Modi. These campaigns got a space in the two English

newspapers.

195
Also, Samajwadi Party the ruling party received more than 20%

coverage in the two Hindi dailies. Because Mulayam Singh and his son

Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav of SP campaigned for the party, and the

Hindi dailies being located in Uttar Pradesh perhaps gave coverage to

SP. Moreover, the two Hindi dailies were consistently supporting SP

even before the 2014 elections, and they continued the same policy

even during 2014 elections. Furthermore, the present study made an

attempt to analyze the news coverage during the election year by

dividing the time year into three sub-periods. Sub period-I (January,

February, March and April 2014) was focusing on the election

campaign phase. Sub–period II (May, June, July and August 2014) dealt

with the election analysis and outcome phase. Finally, sub period-III

(September, October, November and December 2014) was governance

phase. It means the new government in office spelt out its policy on

governance and direction of the country to be taken by the National

Democratic Alliance government. Thus, the present analysis found the

following results during these three sub – periods.

In sub period–I, The Times of India, Amar Ujala and Dainik Jagran gave

more coverage to BJP than Congress party. The other English

newspaper, The Hindustan Times gave more coverage to the Congress

party than the BJP. During this phase, elections were scheduled and

all the campaigners traveled across the country including Uttar

Pradesh, and organized rallies. For example Modi addressed 440

rallies, travelled more than 3,00,000 kilometers, touched 5800 places

196
for rally or other party work. There were 4000 places where Modi’s

‘Chai Pe Churcha’ (Discussion over a cup of tea) was organized

(Chakrabarthy and Hazra, 2016:113). Accordingly to Times of India

report (May 1 , 2016), Narendra Modi addressed eight rallies at

various places attracting large sections of people. The BJP also

organized 196 Bharat Vijay (Victory of India) rallies in all places

between March 25 to April 1, 2016 during the sub period–I. In

contrast, the Congress party had 150 rallies in the country and four

rallies in Uttar Pradesh. Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi

addressed these rallies. Each campaigner used news strategies to

address rallies, accusing the other party. Each campaigner used news

strategies to address rallies, accusing the other party. The battle lines

were clearly drawn between Congress and BJP. Yet, the Hindustan

Times known for its affinity towards Congress gave more coverage to

that party during the sub period-I ( See Figure I).

Figure 1: Frequency of political party coverage during the sub-

period-I

197
In the sub – period – II, the last phase of elections were scheduled, UP

went to polls in the first week of May. Election results were

announced on May 16. The euphoria of the elections continued until

new cabinet was sworn in. However, Times of India gave more

coverage to Congress party than BJP while the Hindustan Times gave

less coverage to Congress party as compared sub period–I. The Times

of India analyzed the reasons for the defeat of the Congress party in

the sense that the newspaper was covering more number of press

conferences, and psephelogists view of the Congress defeat. Apart

from them, the measures taken by the Congress party to restructure

the party, but, Amar Ujala continued to give more coverage to BJP like

sub period–I. In fact, the newspaper was supportive to the BJP( See

Figure II).

Figure 2: Frequency of political party coverage during the sub-

period II

In sub period–III, the newspapers reduced coverage to all political

parties. But, the two Hindi newspapers – Amar Ujala and Dainik Jagran

198
maintained the same coverage to BJP instead of Congress party. Most

importantly, AAP which received high coverage in sub period-I

received minimal coverage in all the four newspapers in sub period III.

Although AAP was contesting elections in Delhi in the last month of

2015, the coverage was negligible in the newspapers of Uttar Pradesh.

The newspapers adopted the news value of proximity, and ignored the

AAP contest of elections in Delhi state. More over, the four

newspapers focused on the governance of the central government and

those news items figured under governance category (See Figure III).

Figure 3: frequency of political party coverage during the sub-

period III

Direction of analysis

The study examined the news items covering political parties in terms

of favorable, unfavorable and neutral. Favorable news items

highlighted the positive aspects of the political parties such as

organization of meetings, increase in membership of the party, good

gathering of crowds for the public meetings and so on. The

199
unfavorable news items specifically dealt with the negative aspects in

the party such as bad response for the meetings, deserting the party,

internal squabbles, negative statements against the party by the party

men and so on. Neutral news items contained neither favorable nor

unfavorable contents in the news items.

The BJP was covered favorably by all the four newspapers (Table 31).

Apparently the reason is that the chief campaigner of the party

Narendra Modi mostly dwelt on development of the country and

argued for the eradication of corruption in the country. In the process,

he touched upon the corruption – ridden erstwhile government

United Progressive Alliance, led by the Congress Party. His election

speeches highlighted black money stacked abroad by some people and

he would strive to bring it back to the country, and his clean – record

as Gujarat chief minister. Also, he was talking of Gujarat model of

development. Since, his oratorical speeches attracted the large crowds

which positively applauded him. The newspapers responded with

positive news.

Exit polls point to Modi entry in Delhi

New Delhi: The 2014 Lok Sabha elections which finally drew
to a close on Monday has earned the distinction of recording
the highest voter turn out ever at 66.4%. this surpasses the
64% polling witnessed in the 1984 polls held in extra
ordinary circumstances following the assassination of the
then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and makes the 58.2%
turnout of 2009 pale in comparison.

(The Times of India, May 13, 2014)

200
On the other hand, the Congress party received negative coverage in

Times of India and Dainik Jagran, while the Hindustan Times and Amar

Ujala positively covered the Congress party.

Black flags welcome Rahul Gandhi in Amethi

LUCKNOW: Amethi had never been a problem area either for

Congress or party Vice President Rahul Gandhi but there
were signs of changing times on Wednesday when Gandhi
scion was shown black flags by volunteers of AAP during a
visit to his constituency. Members of the Bhartiya Kisan
Union (BKU) and Jan Kalyan Samiti also joined the protest.
This was Rahul’s first visit to the constituency after being
named the chief of Party’s poll campaign committee and after
AAP leader Kumar Vishwas landed to challenge him in the
polls.

(The Times of India, January 23, 2014)

Congress will lose big in AP, TN; gain in k’taka

New Delhi: Congress is heading for heavy losses in Andhra

Pradesh and Tamil nadu which were crucial for its victories
in two straight Lok Sabha elections, but will make gains in
Karnataka and will end uo with the lion’s share of seats in
Kerela if polls are held now. These are findings of a mood
tracking survey conducted by the Centre for the study of
developing societies for CNN-IBN channel.

(The Times of India, Jan 22, 2014)

The chief reason for the negative coverage was that the chief

campaigners Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi could not match the

eloquent campaign of Narendra Modi. This apart, their party was in

power for 10 years which attracted the incumbency factor. The party

rallies did not enthuse crowds, and the party campaigners delivered

lackluster lectures. These two newspapers negatively projected them.

Further, the Hindustan Times and Amar Ujala positively projected as

these parties were inclined towards Congress party. These two parties

slightly projected a favorable picture of the Congress party. Moreover,

201
AAP got positive coverage in three newspapers – Times of India,

Hindustan Times, and Amar Ujala because the newly emerged party

did not have much experience in governance, and chief campaigners

was criticizing the two parties – BJP and Congress. Samajwadi party

received positive coverage in these three newspapers, and BJP got

positive coverage in all the four newspapers. As the 2014 elections

were held to elect representatives for Lok Sabha, the regional parties

did not have to attract negative aspects in their campaigns. For

instance, Amar Ujala, on February 27, 2014 covered the Samajwadi Party

positively:

Though delayed, promises will be fulfilled : Akhilesh

Lucknow: Samajwadi Party never breaks promises although

there may be a delay. The government has emerged
successful on the expectations of the people and all the
promises in the manifesto are being fulfilled hastily. These
were the statements made by the Chief Minister of Uttar
Pradesh Akhilesh Yadava in the discussion that followed the
motion of thanks addressed to the Governor in the floor of
the legislative assembly on Wednesday. The Chief Minister in
his one hour address addressed the issues and achievements
of his government in sectors related to health and education
and at the same time attacked the BSP government. He said
that the Mayawati regime did not see any developments and
the government inaction brought UP back by 10-15 years.
The last government left a lot of work pending related to
Medical college, hospital which had to be completed by the
present government.

Amar Ujala, February 27, 2014

202
Overall, the study concludes that

1. Political themes, dominated the news items in four

newspapers,

2. Crime, law and order etc also obtained the highest coverage in

all the four newspapers, and

3. The news coverage differed between English and Hindi

newspapers, and political parties received differential coverage

in these newspapers.

Thus, the present study agrees with the earlier studies done in this

direction. The coverage of political news occupies first or second

place, and in some studies, the news coverage in terms of new items

and space exceeds 25%. Murthy (2001), Murthy and Vijai Kumar

(2013), Murthy and Ramdas (2013), Murthy and Madhavi Ravi Kumar

(2014) found that political news dominated in all the newspapers.

Murthy (2001) found that political news exceeded more than 25% in

the four newspapers: The Hindu (30.6%), Indian Express (28.5%),

Andhra Jyothi (34.8%), and Eenadu (30.8%). Further, Naresh (2011)

study examined political news coverage was more than 35% in four

newspapers. Murthy and Vijai Kumar (2013) study found that politics

and government acts received nearly 25% and above percentage: The

Hindu (24.2%), Deccan Chronicle (25%), Andhra Jyothi (34.2%), and

Eenadu (30.9%). Murthy and Ramdas (2013) study noted that political

news was around 15% in the five English dailies: The Statesman (17.3

%,), The Times of India (14.3%), The Hindu (18.4%), The New Indian

Express (16.8%), and Deccan Chronicle (18.8%). Further, Madhavi Ravi

203
Kumar and Murthy (2014) examined in their study that political news

was around more than 10% in the three dailies: The Hindu (10.9%),

Deccan Chronicle (10.5%), and The New Indian Express (11.3%), and

the one English newspaper, The Times of India gave only 6.8% of news

items dedicated to politics. In the present study, politics received

about more than 13 % in the dailies: The Times of India (13.7%),

Dainik Jagran (18.4%), and only newspaper Amar Ujala dedicated

7.4% to politics. It is evident now that the present study agrees with

the earlier studies done by Murthy and Vijai Kumar (2013), Naresh

(2013) Murthy and Ramdas (2013) and Madhavi Ravi Kumar and

Murthy(2014) in the coverage of the political news. However, the

present study differs with the earlier study done by Murthy (2001)

and Murthy and Vijai Kumar (2013) as the definition of subject

category , politics differ with these two studies. Murthy study analyses

politics and government & official work category as one subject

whereas the present study separates the two categories - politics and

government & official work , and hence the differences arise between

the two studies.

H1 : The four sample newspapers – the two English dailies and two

Hindi dailies differ significantly in terms of news items devoted to

political news. The study has found out that It is found the Times of

India published a mean of 8.4 news items on political parties during

the study period, while the Hindustan times published 9.4 mean news

items. The other two Hindi newspapers -Amar Ujala and Dainik Jagran

204
published a mean of 12.1 and 12.5 news items respectively during the

one-year study period.

This hypothesis has been accepted.

H2: The four sample newspapers differ significantly in terms of
percentage of news items devoted to political parties in the state. The
analysis has found out that the four newspapers significantly differed
in ANOVA . The analysis of variance of frequency of political news
have significantly deferred p<.05.Based on the results and analysis,
this hypothesis has been accepted.

H3 :There is also a significant difference in the direction of coverage,

i.e., favourable, unfavourable and neutral, to the political parties in the

four sample dailies. Four political parties particularly Congress, BJP,

SP and BSP were given differential coverage. The Times of India (-.06)

covered Congress Party negatively as compared to Hindustan Times

(+.08) which gave positive tone to the Congress party. The other two

Hindi papers show disparity. Amar Ujala (.03) covered Congress

favourably but Dainik Jagran (-.18) was highly critical of the Congress

Party. In case of BJP, with equal support from The Times of India

(+.0.11) and Amar Ujala(+0.11). Dainik Jagran (+.043) and Hindustan

Times(+0.1) also covered BJP favourably. Further, in case of SP, the

state ruling party, the three newspapers - The Times of India ( .05),

Amar Ujala and Hindustan Times (.05) covered it favourably, but

Dainik Jagran (- .05) is critical and unfavourable to the partys. Based

on the results the hypothesis has been accepted.

205
In a democracy, the press being the Fourth Estate has the

responsibility to play a constructive role. People depend on

newspapers for their information needs, they must act as purveyors of

news, to inform and educate people on issues of public importance. A

socially responsible press makes citizen well – informed. Moreover,

the extent of media attention given to particular issue leads people to

believe that they are important. The theory of social responsibility

states that the press is expected to play an important role by defining

issues, and setting an agenda for the political parties too. Newspapers

must act as bridge between the government and the people in

developing public opinion.

The analysis of political parties in the present study has revealed that

newspapers under the present inquiry are presenting the news events

differently instead of being objective for the event. Since, newspapers

provide information to the readers, they must report the events as

they happen and the readers must arrive at a clear decision about a

political party. Therefore, it is suggested that newspapers must be

unbiased in political reporting, and even in the treatment of political

news.

The study finds that there are a good number of studies on elections,

political parties and the strategies political parties and so on. But,

studies analyzing the role of media in elections particularly

quantitative analysis of media are a few. Hence, it is suggested that

206
there is an immense need to take up more number of such studies in

future.

The study, further, has not found longitudinal studies of media’s role

in elections since the country goes for elections in the states, and the

centre. Hence, it is suggested that longitudinal studies in the

departments of journalism and mass communication can be taken up.

The analysis of political parties in the present study has revealed that

newspapers under the present inquiry are presenting the news events

differently instead of being objective for the event. Since, newspapers

provide information to the readers, they must report the events as

they happen and the readers must arrive at a clear decision about a

political party. Therefore, it is suggested that newspapers must be

unbiased in political reporting, and even in the treatment of political

news.

The study finds that there are a good number of studies on elections,

political parties and their strategies and so on. But, studies analyzing

the role of media in elections particularly quantitative analysis of

media are a few. Hence, it is suggested that there is an immense need

to take up more number of such studies in future.

Further, it may be suggested that the research scholars can research

on the discourses of political leaders during the political campaigns as

they throw much light on their attitudes once they come to power.

207
Since such studies are not found in Indian context, they will be useful

for further research.

In sum, it is suggested that that the departments of journalism and

mass communication can take up research studies focusing on

different facets of political communication like perceptions of readers

and political leaders on the news coverage of political issues by the

newspapers. Since newspapers selectively cover the news events

keeping in view the respective newspaper agenda or newspaper

policy, there is an element of bias or news is slanted in favour or

against the political party, the readers perception may be helpful in

arriving at conclusions on facts as they unravel over a period of time.

208
 Appendix I
Profile of political parties

A brief profile of some political parties that figured in the sample is

presented below:

Aam Aadmi Party

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) added uncertainty to the outcome of the

2014 election, offering itself as a national ‘third force’, an alternative

to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress Party. At the

centre of the AAP campaign, attracting public interest and media

coverage, was the party’s leader, Arvind Kejriwal. He projected an

image of himself as an ordinary citizen offended by political

corruption and an unresponsive political class. As the AAP National

Convenor, he made key decisions and directed the party through the

2014 elections. The electoral gains made by the party were limited,

and it won four seats and a 2% national vote share, yet the party set

out an agenda which was much discussed by Indian voters and the

media. The AAP helped make the 2014 election a national election that

paid attention to governance issues. Kejriwal presented himself as a

provider of political services to rival other party leaders. As he bid for

public support he argued that unlike existing parties he was uniquely

qualified to provide clean government. With regard to party systems,

Kejriwal needs to be understood as an entrepreneur because he

refused to accept existing patterns of party competition. Instead, he

advocated a new axis of party competition, giving the issue of

209
corruption a new salience in electoral politics and using that as the

basis for political mobilisation. Kejriwal insisted that corruption was a

national problem. His framing of political issues was unusual as the

leaders of most of the many new parties that have been formed in

recent decades have worked with cleavages relevant to their own

state. He presented himself as an ordinary citizen offended by failures

of governance. He gave the appearance of being accessible to ordinary

voters and uninterested in making material gains. Kejriwal attempted

to personally embody a new style of politics that rejected elite

privileges and favoured responsive government. Aam Aadmi Party

(Common Man Party) formally launched on November 26, 2012

following differences between the activists Arvind Kejriwal and Anna

Hazare regarding whether or not to politicise the popular India

Against Corruption movement that had been demanding a Jan Lokpal

Bill since 2011. Hazare preferred that the movement should remain

politically unaligned while Kejriwal felt the failure of the agitation

necessitated a direct political involvement. The party's first electoral

test was in the 2013 Delhi legislative assembly election, from which it

emerged as the second-largest party, winning 28 of the 70 seats. With

no party obtaining an overall majority, the AAP formed a minority

government with conditional support from the Indian National

Congress. A significant part of its agenda was to quickly introduce the

Jan Lokpal bill in the Union Territory. It was clear after the election

that the other major political parties would not support this bill. Then,

the AAP government resigned after being in power for 49 days.

210
Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM)

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) known as CPI(M) is a communist

party in India which emerged from the split from the Communist Party of

India in 1964. The CPI (M) is concentrated in the states of Kerala, West

Bengal and Tripura. As of 2013, CPI (M) heads the state government in

Tripura. It also leads the Left Front coalition of leftist parties. In 1965, the

CPM’s electoral strategy opened the party to internal conflict, however, as

extremists, arguing from an avowedly Maoist position, opposed participation

in elections and government in favor of armed struggle from the countryside

(Basu, 2000).

Naxalbari uprising. At this point the party stood at crossroads. There

were radical sections of the party who were wary of the increasing

parliamentary focus of the party leadership, especially after the

electoral victories in West Bengal and Kerala. Developments in China

also affected the situation inside the party. In West Bengal two

separate internal dissident tendencies emerged, which both could be

identified as supporting the Chinese line (Rodrigues, 2012). In 1967 a

peasant uprising broke out in Naxalbari, in northern West Bengal. The

insurgency was led by hardline district-level CPI (M) leaders Charu

Majumdar and Kanu Sanyal(Basu,2000). The hardliners within CPI(M)

saw the Naxalbari uprising as the spark that would ignite the Indian

revolution. The Communist Party of China hailed the Naxalbari

movement, causing an abrupt break in CPI(M)-CPC relations. The

Naxalbari movement was violently repressed by the West Bengal

government, of which CPI (M) was a major partner. Within the party,

211
the hardliners rallied around an All India Coordination Committee of

Communist Revolutionaries. Following the 1968 Burdwan plenum of

CPI (M) (held on 5–12 April 1968), the Andhra Pradesh Coordination

Committee of Communist Revolutionaries, (AICCCR) separated

themselves from CPI(M). This split divided the party throughout the

country (Hardgrave and Kochanek, 2008). But notably in West Bengal,

which was the centre of the violent radicalist stream, no prominent

leading figure left the party. The party and the Naxalites (as the rebels

were called) were soon to get into a bloody feud. In Andhra Pradesh

another revolt was taking place. There the pro-Naxalbari dissidents

had not established any presence. But in the party organisation there

were many veterans from the Telangana armed struggle, who rallied

against the central party leadership. In Andhra Pradesh the radicals

had a strong base even amongst the state-level leadership. The main

leader of the radical tendency was T. Nagi Reddy, a member of the

state legislative assembly (Koteswara Rao, 2003). On 15 June 1968 the

leaders of the radical tendency published a press statement outlining

the critique of the development of CPI (M). It was signed by T. Nagi

Reddy, D.V. Rao, Kolla Venkaiah and Chandra Pulla Reddy. In total

around 50% of the party cadres in Andhra Pradesh left the party to

form the Andhra Pradesh Coordination Committee of Communist

Revolutionaries, under the leadership of T. Nagi Reddy (Basu, 2000).

However, the CPI (M) came into existence in the Indian politics,

playing a key role during 1989 and 2004 by supporting the

212
governments at the Centre. On the national level they supported the

Indian National Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government,

but without taking part in it. The party is part of a coalition of leftist

and communist parties known in the national media as the Left Front

(Hardgrave and Kochanek, 2008). Upon attaining power in May 2004,

the United Progressive Alliance formulated a programme of action

known as the Common Minimum Programme. The Left bases its

support to the UPA on strict adherence to it. Provisions of the

Common Minimum Programme mentions to discontinue

disinvestment, massive social sector outlays and an independent

foreign policy. On 8 July 2008, Prakash Karat announced that left front

is withdrawing its support over the decision by the government to go

ahead on the United States-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation

Act. The left front had been a staunch advocate of not proceeding with

this deal citing national interests (Rodrigues, 2012; Basu, 2000).

Communist Party of India (CPI)

Since its inception in 1928, the Communist Party of India (CPI), closely tied

to the Communist Party of Great Britain, followed Moscow directives with

dutiful twists and turns. During the 1930s the party joined the nationalist

movement by entering the Congress Socialist Party (CSP) and secured

leadership in the Socialist organization, particularly in the South, where they

gained effective control. With the expulsion from CSP in 1939, the

Communists carried with them many members of the CSP in the South

(Hardgrave and Kochanek, 2008). The Communists parted ways with the

Congress during the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union and the CPI called for

213
cooperation with the British considering the invasion as an imperialist war

(Rodrigues, 2012). Since the Congress refused to cooperate with the

Britishers and Communists, many Congress leaders went to jail. Utilising the

opportunity, the CPI recruited student, peasant, and labour organisations,

expanding its membership from 5,000 in 1942 to 53,000 by 1946

((Hardgrave and Kochanek, 2008). Although the CPI effectively gained

control of a number of mass organizations, its participation in the war effort,

its continued attack on Gandhi, and its support of the Muslim League

demand for Pakistan tainted the party as antinational and minimised its

influence. The CPI adopted a strategy to expand its base by being in alliance

with workers and peasants against the Congress leadership (Ramachandra

Guha, 2007). In 1948 P. C. Joshi was replaced as General Secretary by B. T.

Ranadive, in order to advance a more militant line. Under the new

leadership, the CPI took up a revolutionary line like strikes, sabotage, and

urban violence. Ranadive emphasized the Russian model of using the

working class as the instrument of revolution and discounted the peasant

uprising in the Telengana region of Hyderabad (Koteswara Rao, 2003). The

Andhra Communists, however, pushed for the adoption of a Maoist line of

revolution from the countryside and obtained a short-term victory for the

strategy of rural insurrection with the election of Rajeshwara Rao as General

Secretary in 1950. The party became increasingly isolated, party

membership declined, and in various states the CPI was outlawed. In the

early 1950s, however, the attitude of the Soviet Union toward the Nehru

government began to change. The CPI was officially advised to abandon its

revolutionary tactics. The policy shift was welcomed by those within the

party, notably P. C. Joshi, S. A. Dange, and Ajoy Ghosh, who favored

participation in the ensuing general elections (Hardgrave and Kochanek,

214
2008). In 1951 the revisionist line gained control of the party with the

selection of Ajoy Ghosh as General Secretary of the party. Ghosh, led the

party towards constitutional communism. The CPI extended its full support

to all ‘progressive’ policies and measures of the Nehru government. The

party’s willingness to engage in parliamentary politics and to join other

parties of the left thinking in a democratic front led to the success of the

Kerala Communists in 1957, and the formation of the first democratically

elected Communist government under E. M. S. Namboodiripad (Basu, 2000;

Rodrigues, 2012). The Amritsar thesis, drafted by the party conference in

1958, set forth the nationalist credentials of the CPI: The Communist Party of

India decided to achieve full democracy and socialism by peaceful means.

The Amritsar thesis only clarified its stance to overcome fundamental

tensions within the party between the right and left, between those

favouring cooperation with the Congress and the ‘‘national bourgeoisie’’ and

those advocating revolutionary struggle for the defeat of the Congress

(Hardgrave and Kochanek, 2008). Its relationship to the Congress in strategy

and tactics posed a dilemma for the CPI. It was obliged, on the one hand, to

fulfil its ideological commitment to the international Communist movement

but, on the other, sought to retain a nationalist identity. The internal balance

of the CPI was soon threatened. In Kerala, sparked by the Education Bill,

widespread agitation was launched against the Communist government,

bringing central intervention and the proclamation of President’s Rule

(Hardgrave and Kochanek, 2008). The left saw it as patent that the Congress

would never allow serious socialist reform, but the fate of the Kerala

government only served to define more clearly the polarities emerging on

the Sino-Indian question. The Tibet uprising in 1959 and the CPI’s support

for Chinese actions had already brought popular reaction against the party in

215
India. A serious rift within the party surfaced in 1962. One reason was the

Sino-Indian War, where a faction of the Indian Communists backed the

position of the Indian government, while other sections of the party claimed

that it was a conflict between a socialist and a capitalist state, and thus took a

pro-Chinese position. There were three factions in the party –

internationalists, centrists, and nationalists. Internationalists, including B. T.

Ranadive, P. Sundarayya, P. C. Joshi, Makineni Basavapunnaiah, Jyoti Basu,

and Harkishan Singh Surjeet, supported the Chinese stand. The nationalists,

including prominent leaders such as S.A. Dange, A. K. Gopalan (Jeffrey, 2010)

backed India. Centrists took a neutral view; Ajoy Ghosh was the prominent

person in the centrist faction. In general, most of Bengal Communist leaders

supported China and most others supported India. Hundreds of CPI leaders,

accused of being pro-Chinese, were imprisoned. Some of the nationalists

were also imprisoned, as they used to express their opinion only in party

forums, and CPI's official stand was pro-China.In response to the widespread

arrests of leftist Communist cadres, the CPI sought to reorganise state party

units under rightist control. Their actions served only to stimulate the

creation of parallel left structures outside the disciplinary organization of the

CPI. At the national council meeting in 1964 the left attempted, without

success, to oust party Chairman Dange. They came armed with a letter

allegedly written by Dange in 1924 that stated his offer to cooperate with the

British in exchange for his release from jail. Denouncing the letter as a

forgery, the council refused to consider the charges. The left and center, led

by Namboodiripad and Jyoti Basu, staged a walkout and appealed to the

party to repudiate Dange and the ‘‘reformist’’ line (Rodrigues, 2012). The

split became final when all signatories to the appeal were suspended from

the party. The split was inevitable in the party and the Communist Party of

216
India (Marxist) (CPM) came into existence.During the period 1970–77, CPI

was allied with the Congress party. In Kerala, they formed a government

together with Congress, with the CPI-leader C. Achutha Menon as Chief

Minister. CPI is recognised by the Election Commission of India as a 'National

Party' (Hardgrave and Kochanek, 2008). To date, CPI happens to be the only

national political party from India to have contested all the general elections

using the same electoral symbol. In West Bengal it participates in the Left

Front. It also participated in the state government in Manipur. In Kerala the

party is part of Left Democratic Front. In Tripura the party is a partner of the

governing Left Front, having a minister. In Tamil Nadu it is part of the

Progressive Democratic Alliance. It is involved in the Left Democratic Front

in Maharashtra

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is a centre to centre left political

party primarily based in the state of Maharashtra, India. Its youth

wing is the Nationalist Youth Congress. NCP was formed on 25 May

1999, by Sharad Pawar, P. A. Sangma, and Tariq Anwar after they were

expelled from the Indian National Congress (INC) on 20 May 1999, for

disputing the right of Italian-born Sonia Gandhi to lead the party.[1] At

the time of formation, the party also absorbed Indian Congress

(Socialist), which traced its origins to anti-coalition partner in the

state of Maharashtra in alliance with INC. On 20 June 2012, Sangma

quit the NCP to contest in presidential polls.

Shiv Sena

217
Shiv Sena as a regional party was founded on June 19, 1966 by Bal

Thackeray, a political cartoonist with a view to protecting the interests

of Maharashtrians The party originally emerged from a movement in

Mumbai demanding preferential treatment for Maharashtrians over

migrants to the city (Palshikar,2012). The Shiv Sena especially

attracted a large number of disgruntled and often unemployed

Marathi youth, who were attracted by Thackeray's policy of opposing

migrants (Golgate, 2014). In its early days, the Shiv Sena followed an

anti-South agenda and its slogan was "Pungi Bajao, Lungi Bhagao"

("Blow the flute, and drive the lungis or South Indians away"). Shiv

Sena cadres became involved in various attacks against the South

Indian communities, vandalizing South Indian restaurants and

pressuring employers to hire Marathis1. Although the party's primary

base is still in Maharashtra, it has tried to expand to other states

(Hardgrave and Kochanek, 2008). In 1970s, the party gradually moved

from solely advocating a pro-Marathi ideology, to one supporting a

broader Hindu nationalist agenda, as it aligned itself with the

Bharatiya Janata Party. The Sena started placing more weight on the

Hindutva ideology in the 1970s as the hallmark 'sons of the soil' cause

1
After Independence in 1947, states were formed on the basis of linguistic
region. Within the Bombay Presidency a massive popular struggle was launched
for the creation of a state for the Marathi-speaking people. In 1960 the presidency
was divided into two linguistic states, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Moreover,
Marathi-speaking areas of the erstwhile Hyderabad state were joined with
Maharashtra. Mumbai, in many ways the economic capital of India, became the
state capital of Maharashtra. More over, people belonging to the Gujarati
community owned the majority of the industry and trade enterprises in the city.
On the other, there was a steady flow of South Indian migrants to the city, and
who came to take over many white-collar employments.

218
was weakening (Palshikar, 2012). The party has ruled the state in

coalition with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from 1995–99. The

Sena is the opposition party in the state along with the BJP since 1999.

In July 2005 Narayan Rane, an important functionary of the party was

expelled from the party, which sparked internal conflict in the party

(Hardgrave and Kochanek, 2008). In December the same year Raj

Thackeray, Bal Thackeray's nephew, left the party and founded

founded a new party, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). Although

the MNS is a break-away group from the Shiv Sena, the party is still

based on Bhumiputra ideology. Raj Thackeray considers himself an

Indian nationalist (not just a regionalist) and claims that the Congress

is two-faced. Uddhav Thackeray, Thackeray's son had become the

party's leader in 2004, although Bal Thackeray continued to be an

important figurehead. After the demise of Bal Thackeray on 17

November 2012, Uddhav became the sole Pramukh (party leader).

However, Uddhav has refused to take the "Pramukh" title.

Peace Party

The Peace Party became the fifth largest political party of India's most

populous state,Uttar Pradesh, following the state legislative assembly

elections of 2012. It won four seats in those elections. The party was

founded by in February 2008 by Mohamed Ayub, a surgeon and

philanthropist. It represents people who are striving for betterment of

downtrodden people of India through political awareness and

participation in governance. The party was founded with a view to

219
present a fresh alternative to people of all classes, especially dalits,

Muslims and the backward/oppressed classes, who have been mostly

used by other political parties of India as a tool to gain power. Initially,

it had impact in some pockets of Uttar Pradesh but now it is spreading

to other parts of India as well. The strategy of the Peace Party is to

bring together other like-minded parties and groups, such as

the Indian Justice Party, Lok Janshakti Party, Bhartiya Samaj Party,

Janvadi party and Nationla Lok hit Party into one forum. The party

organised Muslims and most backward communities and has gained

the power of over 70 per cent Muslim vote. The party has adopted an

open minded and broad view with regard to its policies and has

attracted people from all sections of society. The party is expanding its

activities to other regions of India, in just short span of 5 year such As

Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttrakhand, Delhi, Madhya Pardesh,

Rajasthan,Maharashtra Odisa, and Chhattisgarh. The Peace Party first

contested seats in the General election of India , 2009.When it came

ranked sixth by percentage of votes in a field that contained 124

national and regional parties. It had contested 21 of the 80 seats in

Uttar Pradesh. In the by-elections that took place in 2010

at Dumariyaganj andLakhimpur. It secured more votes than

the Samajwadi party and Indian National Congress. The Peace Party

contested around 208 Assembly seats in the 2012 Uttar Pradesh

assembly elections, where its obtained 2.35 per cent of the vote and so

ranked fifth by percentage of votes gained.

220
All India Trinamool Congress

The All India Trinamool Congress or Trinamool Congress is a sub-

national state-level ruling political party in West Bengal. Founded on

January 1, 1998 as a breakaway faction of the Indian National

Congress, the party is led by its founder and current Chief Minister of

West Bengal Mamata Banerjee. After remaining with the INC for over

two decades, Mamata Banerjee formed her own party, the Trinamool

Congress which was registered with the Election Commission of India

during mid-December 1997. Ma Mati Manush (Mother, Motherland

and People) was a primarily slogan, coined by All India Trinamool

Congress chief Mamata Banerjee. The slogan became very popular in

West Bengal during 2011 assembly election. A song was also recorded

with the same title to glorify the theme. In the West Bengal state

assembly election, 2011, the Trinamool Congress led alliance that

included the INC and SUCI(C) alliance won 227 seats in the 294 seat

legislature. Trinamool Congress alone won 184 seats enabling it to

govern without an alliance. The party is the opposition party in

Manipur. In 2014 parliamentary elections, the party won a maximum

of 33 seats for parliamnet.

Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD)

Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Ajit Singh, whose party had once

dominated the political landscape of western Uttar Pradesh on the

basis of a combination of Jat and Muslim votes, said social consensus

in the largely agrarian belt has fallen apart, with beef being just a side

221
issue was founded in late 1990s to carry out the legacy of Choudhary

Charan Singh. it contested elections in the early 2000 onwards. On 12

December 2011, RLD joined the United Progressive Alliance led

by Indian National Congress. The party contested on eight

constituencies in Uttar Pradesh in Indian general election, 2014 as per

an arrangement with UPA but lost on all of them. Party chief Ajit Singh

who was six term holder from Baghpat seat, lost to BJP candidate

Satya Pal Singh. His son Jayant Chaudhary, the incumbent MP from

Mathura, lost to BJP candidate Hema Malini too.

222
 Appendix II

Profiles of newspapers

The Times of India

The Times of India, which completed more than 150 years, began as a

bi-weekly news Journal on November 3, 1838. Initially, it was known

as Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce which was edited by an

Irish doctor J.E. Brennan. It was difficult to bring out a paper in those

days. The paper was amalgamated with Bombay Standard, Bombay

Telegraph and Bombay Courier and became Times of India at

instance of Robert Knight. He had correctly, assessed the need of the

hour. He had developed an uncanny flair for selecting news which

everyone wanted to read. Never before had any publisher offered a

newspaper to the public on such a grand scale (Krishna Murthy,

1966:144). With passage of time, the paper gained popularity and

became financially viable. Subsequently, owners and editors changed

and distinguished editors served the paper. Later Thomas Jewell

Bennett who became the editor reshaped the paper and improved it.

Consequently, he became the sole proprietor. He brought F M

Coleman, master printer with wide experience in newspaper

production. Both succeeded in their attempt and the paper was a

success. They formed a joint stock company known as Bennett

Coleman & Co., Ltd. A significant event in the history of the

newspaper was its transfer to Indian owners in 1946. Seth

Ramakrishna Dalmia, an industrialist bought the paper.

223
Subsequently, his son-in-law, Ashok Jain inherited it. The newspaper

is the largest circulated daily in the country with 17 editions. It has

sister publications like Filmfare, Femina, Navbharat Times, a daily in

Hindi and others. The Times was served by stalwart editors like

N.J.Nanporia, Sham Lal, Girilal Jain and others. The present consulting

editor is Dilip Padgoankar.

The present management of The Times Group has been instrumental

in changing the outlook of Indian journalism. In India, as is elsewhere

in the world, the Editor of a newspaper has traditionally been

considered as the most notable position in a newspaper set up. The

Times of India, however, changed this in the early 1990s, in keeping

with the management policy of treating the newspaper as just

another brand in the market. The main newspaper and its many sub-

editions are now run by editors who are appointed within the ranks

and the company gives equal chance to everyone to occupy the

editor's seat. The Times Group also places equal focus and

importance to every department and function - which has made it a

professional entity and ensured its place as the most profitable

newspaper in the country.In late 2006, Times Group acquired

Vijayanand Printers Limited (VPL). VPL used to publish two Kannada

newspapers Vijay Karnataka and Usha Kiran and an English daily

Vijay Times. Vijay Karnataka was the leader in the Kannada

newspaper segment then. In January 2007, the Kannada edition of

The Times of India was launched in Bangalore and in April 2008 the

224
Chennai edition was launched. Their main rivals in India are The

Hindu and Hindustan Times which hold second and third position by

circulation.

The Hindustan Times

The Hindustan Times (HT) was founded in 1924 with roots in

the Indian independence movement of the period by Sunder Singh

Lyallpuri, founder-father of the Akali movement and the Shiromani

Akali Dalin Punjab Province. S Mangal Singh Gill (Tesildar) and S.

Chanchal Singh (Jandiala, Jalandhar) were made in charge of the

newspaper. Madan Mohan Malaviya and Tara Singh were among the

members of the Managing Committee. The Managing Chairman and

Chief Patron was Master Sunder Singh Lyallpuri. K. M. Panikkar was

its first editor with Devdas Gandhi (son of Mahatma Gandhi) on the

editor's panel. The opening ceremony was performed by Mahatma

Gandhi on September 26, 1924. The first issue was published from

Naya Bazar, Delhi (now Swami Sharda Nand Marg). It contained

writings and articles from C. F. Andrews, St. Nihal Singh, Maulana

Mohammad Ali, Cattamanchi Ramalinga Reddy, T. L. Vaswani, Ruchi

Ram Sahni, Bernard Haton, Harinder Nath Chattopadhyaya, Dr

Saifuddin Kichlu and Rubi Waston etc.

The Akali Sikhs had initially started this paper with a view to

acquiring the religious shrines from the Mahants. The Sikh Maharaja

of Nabha also provided financial assistance to the paper. It was ably

edited by the eminent intellectual and wise and able administrator

225
Sardar K.M. Panikkar. Sadar Panikkar launched the Hindustan

Times as a serious nationalist newspaper hoping to make his paper

eventually more than an Akali sheet. He became the editor and funds

flowed freely from activist Akali patrons. He exerted himself

strenuously, but the paper made very little headway. In two years

Panikkar could not take the print order any higher than 3,000. By

then the Akali movement appeared to lose steam and funds dried up.

Within four years due to financial constraints it was up for sale. With

Gandhi in jail, a difference arose in the Congress with regards to the

methods of non co-operation and a new party called Swaraj Party

was formed within the Congress under the Stewardship of Pandit

Motilal Nehru and C.R. Das. To propagate their ideas and organize

their party they decided to have a party press. The Hindustan Times

was available and this came handy. Madan Mohan Malviya bought

the paper with the help of Lala Lajpat Rai. The paper was saved from

an untimely demise when Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya stepped in

to realise his vision of a newspaper in Delhi.

Funds were collected from the public to stabilize the paper. Malaviya

raised Rs 50,000 to acquire the Hindustan Times along with the help

of nationalist leaders Lajpat Rai and M. R. Jayakar and industrialist G.

D. Birla, who paid most of the cash. From private ownership funds

were transferred to a company in which Ghanshyam Das Birla

became a director buying many shares in the company in 1927.

Sardar Pannikar resigned and editorship was taken over by Jairam

Daulatram and after him J.N. Sahni and Pothan Joseph edited the

226
paper till 1932 when the entire company of Hindustan Times came in

the hands of G. D. Birla. Birla took full control of the paper in 1933.

The paper began to support the policy of Indian National Congress.

During this time S. N. Bharathi who became the editor did a great deal

in popularizing the Congress ideals The paper continues to be owned

by the Birla family. It was edited at times by many important people

in India, besides Devdas Gandhi, Sri Mulgaonkar, B.G.Verghese

and Khushwant Singh.(Krishnamurthy, 1966)

Devdas Gandhi took over as the managing editor of the Hindustan

Times in 1940. Devdas Gandhi son of Mahatma Gandhi assisted his

father in the running of the Young India. Devadas improved the

newspaper on its mechanical side as well as the editorial. The

newspaper which considered as the spokesman of the Indian

government became free after India attained independence. Devdas

Gandhi was elected President of the All-India Newspaper Editor’s

Conference in 1947 and led the Indian Delegation to England, Canada,

Switzerland and United States to get newsprint quota for the Indian

newspapers. It was due to his efforts that the Indian papers could got

enough of newsprint for their publication in later forties and fifties.

The publication activities of the newspaper were expanded during his

time. The Hindustan, a daily and the Hindustan Sapthahik, a weekly in

Hindi were launched. The Evening News, as evening edition of the

Hindustan Times, became popular evening newspaper of New Delhi.

The Overseas Edition of the Hindustan Times, a weekly digest printed

on light-weight paper, is even now selling in most countries of the

227
world for circulation among our nationals abroad. Devdas Gandhi

remained the editor of the Hindustan Times till the death in 1958.

(ibid)

The newspaper is presently owned by Rajya Sabha M.P., Shobhana

Bhartia. It is the flagship publication of HT Media. Hindustan Times is

one of the largest newspapers in India, by circulation. It is popular

in North India, with simultaneous editions from New

Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Lucknow,Patna, Ranchi, Bhopal,

and Chandigarh. The print location of Jaipur was discontinued from

June 2006 and that of Nagpur edition was discontinued from

September 1997. HT launched a youth daily, HT Next, in 2004. The

Mumbai edition was launched on 14 July 2005 and the Kolkata

edition was launched in early 2000. Other sister publications

of Hindustan Times are Mint (English business

daily), Hindustan (Hindi Daily), Nandan (monthly children's

magazine) and Kadambani (monthly literary magazine). The media

group owns a radio channel, Fever 104.0 FM. Recently the editorial

page has seen a major makeover and has been named "comment" to

bring in more flexibility and some-what less seriousness to the page.

Amar Ujala

Amar Ujala Publications Ltd., a print media company, publishes a

daily newspaper in India. Its flagship Hindi daily newspaper is Amar

Ujala that is published in 19 editions in states of Uttar Pradesh,

Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, and

228
Haryana, as well as union territories of New Delhi and Chandigarh.

The company also publishes Saflata, a niche monthly magazine

providing study material for civil services and other examinations;

Safalta Samyiki, which offers information relating to general

knowledge and current affairs; and Chaupal, a Hindi language

magazine focused on agriculture. Amar Ujala was founded on 18 April

1948 by Shri Dori Lal Agarwal and Late Shri Murari Lal Maheswari as

a 4-page newspaper with a circulation of 2576 copies with an

objective of promoting social awakening and introducing a feeling of

responsibility among the citizens of a recently independent India.

Nineteen editions of the newspaper have a readership of 2.59 million

readers a day by the end of 2014. The media group has 18 publishing

facilities with a total installed capacity of printing roughly 3.78

million copies of the newspaper each day. Advertising accounts for 67

percent of the revenues of Amar Ujala Publications with

subscriptions bringing in a little less than a quarter of the total

turnover (23 per cent), the remainder coming from the company's

other ventures. In September 1979, the original firm set up by the

group's founders, National Journals, was split into two partnership

firms: Amar Ujala Publications and Amar Ujala Prakashan were

created for conducting the group's operations in Agra and Bareilly

respectively. Rajul Maheshwari and Sneh Lata Maheshwari were

among the partners in both firms together with members of the

Agarwal family. The partners of the firms changed several times till a

closely-held private limited company, Amar Ujala Publications

229
Limited, was registered in Agra in 2001. Amar Ujala Prakashan,

registered in Bareilly, then metamorphosed into Amar Ujala

Prakashan Ltd and was later merged into Amar Ujala Publications Ltd

by an amalgamation order sanctioned by the Allahabad high court on

July 9, 2004.

Starting from that modest beginning, 20 years later Amar Ujala

achieved a circulation of 20,000 copies and was servicing over 14

districts in Western Uttar Pradesh. Growing slowly, but steadily, the

turn of the century saw Amar Ujala as one of the top 3 dailies of

India. Currently, Amar Ujala publishes a 16 page daily issue with

more colour pages in every edition. In addition to this, Amar Ujala

also has in offering for readers three colour magazines, namely a)

Career and Education - A weekly career magazine for youth every

Wednesday. b) Rupayan - Aapki Personal Friend: An all new weekly

magazine for women every Friday. c) Sunday Anand - Bole to DIRECT

Bollywood se: A completely new look film magazine every Sunday.

Dainik Jagran

Dainik Jagran, the largest circulated Hindi daily is published from 37

centres. The newspaper is owned by Jagran Prakashan Limited, a

publishing house listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and

the National Stock Exchange of India. Jagran Prakashan Limited also

acquired Mid Day in 2010 and Naiduniya in 2012. The newspaper

was launched in 1942 in Jhansi during the Indian freedom

struggle (Quit India movement) by Puran Chandra Gupta, a

230
nationalist, to voice his nationalistic sentiments. Puran Chandra's

legacy was carried forward by literary stalwarts like Shri Narendra

Mohan who has carried forward the paper’s editorial legacy. In 1947,

a second edition made its appearance in Kanpur. In a succession of

planned expansions, Rewa and Bhopal editions were added in 1953

and 1956. Gorakhpur was added in 1975, followed

by Varanasi, Allahabad, Meerut, Agra and Bareilly in the 1980s, and

finally Delhi in 1990. After this Dainik Jagran ventured out

to Uttarakhand, Haryana, Bihar, Jharkhand, Punjab,Jammu, Himachal

Pradesh and West Bengal. Puran Chandra's vision was also realised

through the group's educational initiatives at both the junior and

senior levels.

231
 Appendix III

Code sheet

Name of the paper……………………………Date/day/year…………………….

No of pages

S. Subject of Loc Front page Inside pages Letters Edit

No analysis atio
n

Fr Space fr Space fr Space fr

1 Politics and
political parties

a Congress N

b BJP N

c SP N

d BSP N

e AAP N

f CPI-M N

g CPI N

h NCP N

I Shiv Sena N

J Peace party N

232
K TMC N

L RLD N

M Other Parties N

N Parl and Assembly N

proceedings

O Elections N

2 Development N

3 Governance and N
official work

4 Law and order, N

moral problems,
and conflicts

5 Accidents and N
disasters

6 Science and N
technology

233
S. Subject of loca Front page Inside pages Letters Edit
No analysis tion

Fr Space fr Space fr Space fr

7. Arts, films and N

amusement

8. Sport N

9 General human N
interest

10 SC/ST N

11 Women N

12 Economic N
activity, travel
and transport

234
Treatment of political themes

S Political theme Favourable Unfavourable Neutral

No

1 Congress

2 BJP

3 SP

4 BSP

5 AAP

6 CPI-M

7 CPI

8 NCP

9 Shiv Sena

10 JMM

11 Other parties

235
 APPENDIX – IV

Correction factor

Units of space measurement. The standard unit of measurement adopted

in the study was one centimetre of body type containing four agate lines with

the column width of 25 ems (12 ems = 1 inch). The procedure in employing

this unit was to first measure the various news stories in a newspaper with

an ordinary centimetre rule. The news stories were measured and recorded

in column centimetres regardless of the size of type or width of the (single)

column. Subsequently, when the total length of space devoted for each

subject category in each newspaper under study was available in

centimetres, it was multiplied by a correction factor (k) to standardise the

column centimetres to be comparable among four newspapers. Since four

newspapers in the study had different widths of (single) column and

different body type, each newspaper had a different correction factor which

was obtained with the help of the following formulae:

K= w x L
---- ------ where
25 4x10

w = width of the column in ems

L = average number of lines of body type per 10 centimetres

In the study, all the four newspapers such as The Times of India,and

Hindustan Times had a column width of 4 inch which is equivalent to

20.4ems.

Next, in order to ascertain the average number of lines of body type per 10

centimetres, measurements were made in a number of inside pages where

236
the typical conditions of type size and leading prevail. After obtaining the

total lines, the average lines per 10 centimetres were calculated. The

average lines varied from paper to paper on account of different body types

and widths. On an average, The Times of India and Hindustan Times had 32

lines per 10 cms while Amar Ujala 26 lines and per 10 cms.

The correction factor of each news paper was calculated with the formula

mentioned earlier. The steps involved are as follows:

The Times of India

w L 30 26
k = ------ X -------- = ------ X ------ = 1.2 x 0.65 = 0.78
25 4 x 10 25 40

Hindustan Times

20.4 30
------ X ------- = 0.81 x 0.75 = 0.61
25 40

Amar Ujala

20.4 23
------ X ------- = 0.81 x 0.57 = 0.46
25 40

Dainik Jagran

20.4 25
------ X ------- = 0.81 x 0.62 = 0.51
25 40

237
 References
Achin Vanaik. (2012). Communalization of the Indian polity. In deSouza, P R
and Sridharan, E (eds).India’s political parties (pp173-198).
New Delhi: Sage publications.

Ahuja, B.N. (1984). Theory and Practice of Journalism, New Delhi: Surjeet
Publications.

Akbar, MJ (2015). A mirror to power : the politics of a fractured decade.

New Delhi: Harper - Collins India .

Alisky, M. (1958). The Peruvian Press and the Nixon incident, Journalism
Quarterly, 35 (4): 411-419.

Anita, G. (2008).Newspapers and campaigns: A study of Eenadu‘s coverage of

anti-arrack movement. In D V R Murthy(ed). Media research:
Themes and applications (pp 53-79). New Delhi: Kanishka
Publishers.

Asmer Beg, Mirza, Kumar, S and Verma, A K (2014). Uttar Pradesh: The ebb
and flow of party support. In S Palshikar, K C Suri and
Yogendra Yadav (eds). Party Competition in Indian States (pp
244-261). New Delhi: Oxford University Press

Ate, A A. (2007). Editorial writing: An academic and professional approach.

Akura: Pamma press

Ate, A A. (2008). JLS: 173. Editorial writing. Retrieved from www.nou.edu.ng

on July 5, 2014.

Auter, P.J. and Moore, R.L. (1993). Buying from a friend: A content Analysis of
two tele-shopping programmes. Journalism Quarterly, 70 (2):
425-436.

Bannerjee (1984), Regional Political Parties in India, Banerjee Kishalay, B R

Publishing Corporation, Delhi.

Barcus, F.E. (1962). A content analysis of trends in Sunday Comics 1900-

1959, Journalism Quarterly, 38(2):171-180.

Barnett, M R. (1976). The politics of cultural Nationalism in South India.

Princeton: Princeton University press.

Barnett, S and Gaber, Ivor. (2001), Westminster Tales: The 21st Century Crisis
in British Political Journalism. London: Continuum.

Baru, Sanjay (2014). The Accidental Prime Minister: The making and
unmaking of Manmohan Singh. New Delhi: Penguin.

238
Sanjay Baru(2016). 1991: How PV Narasimha Rao made history. New
Delhi: Aleph Book Company .

Basu, Pradip (2000).Towards Naxalburi (1953-1967): An inner-party

ideological struggle. Calcutta: Progressive publishers.

Batlin, R. (1954).San Francisco newspapers’ campaign coverage 1946, 1952.

Journalism Quarterly, 31(3): 297-302.

Behr,R.L., & Iyengar,S. (1985). Television news, real world cues, and changes
in the public agenda. Public Opinion Quarterly,49,38-57

Bella Mody (2015) How well do India's Multiple Language Dailies

Provide Political Knowledge to Citizens of this Electoral
Democracy?, Journalism Studies, 16:5, 734-749,
DOI: 10.1080/1461670X.2015.1054185
Benoit, W L (2007). Communication in political campaigns. New York: Peter
Lang

Benoit, W L. (2011). Content analysis in political communication. In Erick P

Busy and R Lance Holbert (eds).The source book for political
communication research: Methods, measures, and analytical
techniques (pp 268-279). London: Routledge

Berelson, B. (1952). Content analysis in communications research. Glancoe:

Free Press.

Bhandari, (1998). Bhandari, R., 1998, As I Saw It, New Delhi: Har-Anand. As
quoted in Ian Duncan (1999) Dalits and politics in rural
North India: The Bahujan Samaj party in Uttar Pradesh, The
Journal of Peasant Studies, 27:1, 35-60,
DOI:10.1080/03066159908438724

Bhardwaj , PR(2008). Himachal Pradesh elections: an analysis ,

Economic & Political Weekly, 43(2):13-16.

Bhatt, S C (1997). Indian press since 1955. New Delhi: Publications division,
Ministry of information and broadcasting.

Bhattacharjee, A. (1972). The Indian Press: Profession to Industry, Delhi: Vikas

Publishing.

Bhattacharya, B. (2002). Gandhi, the writer (First reprint), New Delhi:

National Book Trust.

Bhattacharyya, S.N. (1965). Mahatma Gandhi, the Journalist, Bombay: Asia

Publishing House.

Brass, (1966). Paul R. Brass, Factional Politics in an Indian State: The

Congress Party in Uttar Pradesh, Oxford University Press,
Bombay, 1966, p 1.)

Brass, P.R.,( 1997) 'General Elections, 1996 in Uttar Pradesh: Divisive

Struggles Influence Outcome', Economic and Political
Weekly, 20 Sept.

239
Buckman, R.J. (1993). How eight weekly newsmagazines covered Elections
in six countries. Journalism Quarterly, 70(4): 780-792.

Budd, R, Thorp. K.R and Donohew L. (1967).Content analysis of

communications, New York: Macmillan.

Busby, L.T. and Greg, L (1993). Feminism and Advertising in Traditional and
non-traditional women’s magazines 1950s-1982. Journalism
Quarterly, 70(2): 247-264.

Bust, C.R. (1960). A system of categories for general news content.

Journalism Quarterly, 37(2): 206-210.

Cahudhi, V & Wang, J (2007). Communicating corporate social responsibility

on the Internet: A case study of the top 100 information
technology companies in India. Management communication
quarterly, 21, 232-247.

Carras, M C. (1980). Indira Gandhi: In the crucible of leadership. Delhi: Jaico

Publishing House.

Casey, B; Casey, N; Calvert, B French, L and Lewis, J (2002). Television

Studies: The key concepts. London: Routledge.

Chadwick, B.A., Bahr, H.M., & Abrecht, S.L. (1984). Content analysis. B A
Chadwick(ed) In Social Science Research Methods (pp.239-
257). New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.

Chakrabarty, Bidyut (2008). Indian Politics and Society since Independence: Events,
processes, ideology. New Delhi: Routledge

Chakrabarty, Bidyut and Sugati Hazra (2016); Winning the Mandate: The Indian
Experience, New Delhi, Californaia, London and Singapore: Sage
Publications; pp xxxiii + 216, `750.

Chandra, Bipin (2003). In the name of democracy : JP movement and the

Emergency. New Delhi: Penguin India.

Chari, AV and Anemic Maertans (2012). Indian assembly elections, 1997-

2002: evidence in declining participation and a hypothesis.
Economic & Political Weekly, 47(51): 69.73

Combs, B., & Slovic, P. (1979). Newspaper coverage of causes of death.

Journalism Quarterly,56,837-843,849.

Conboy, M (2010). The language of newspapers: Socio-historical perspectives.

London: Continuum

Connolly, Ahern, C. (2009). Impression Management. In Encyclopedia of

political communications. London: Sage Publications.

240
Corner, J. (2003). Mediated Persona and Political Culture. In J Corner and
Dick Pels (eds). Media and The Restyling of Politics (pp.67-
84).London: Sage Publications.

Cornwell, E.E.Jr. (1959). Presidential news: The expanding public image.

Journalism Quarterly, 36(3): 275-283.

Coulson, D.C. and Anne, H. (1995). The Louisvalle Courier – Journal’s news
content after purchase by Gannet. Journalism and Mass
Communication Quarterly, 72(1): 205-215.

Davis, H. and Rarick, G(1964). Functions of editorials and Letters-to-the

editor. Journalism Quarterly, 41(1): 108-109.

DeFleur and Bal–Rokeach (1989). Theory of Mass Communication (Fifth

edition), New York: Longman.

Delgado, 1996 cited in Ross, 1998: Ross,S D.(1998). “The Rising Voices”:A
Study of Civic Rights, Social Movements And Advertising in
the New York Times. Journalism & Mass Communication
Quarterly,75(3):518-534.

Desai, A R (1993) Social Background of Indian Nationalism (Second

edition).Mumbai: Popular Prakasan deSouza, P R and
Sridharan, E (2012).India’s political parties. New Delhi: Sage
publications.

Devi Prasad, B., and Sampath Kumar, R.D. (1991). Opinion moulding by the
press: An analysis of the election – related content of
editorials and letters-to-the editor. Media Asia, 18(1):24-29.

Deviprasad, B., Visveswara Rao, K., and Sampath Kumar, R.D. (1992). Civic
concerns in an emerging city and its adjoining regions: A
content-analytic study of critical letters to the ‘Action Please’
column in Indian Express, NAGARLOK, XXIV (2): 32-42.

Devi Prasad, B. (1993, Feb.). The newspapers revisited: A study of the

coverage of the 1991 Indian elections, Paper presented at the
meeting of Commonwealth Association for Education in
Journalism and communication (CAEJC), Hyderabad.

Dhavan, R. (2009). Obtaining Moral Consensus in a Law and Order Society:

Indian Responses. In Arvind Rajgopal (ed). The Indian Public
Sphere: Reading in Media History (pp 88-100). New Delhi:
Oxford University Press.

Dickey, Sara. (2003). Cinema and Urban poor in South India. Cambridge:
Cambride University press.

Douglas Verney (2004) Verney, Douglas V.(2004). ‘‘How Has the

Proliferation of Parties Affected the Indian Federation: A
Comparative Approach,’’ in Zoya Hasan, E. Sridharan, and R.
Sudarshan, (eds). India’s Living Constitution (pp. 134–
58).Delhi: Permanent Black.

241
Dremers, O.P. and Nichols, S. (1987). Precision Journalism: A practical guide,
New Delhi: Sage publications.

Duyile,D (2005). Writing for the media: A manual for African journalists.
Lagos: Gong communications.

Entaman, R.M. (1994). Representation and reality in the portrayal of

Blacks on Network Television News. Journalism and Mass
Communication Quarterly, 71(3): 509-520.

Fico, F and Freedman, E (2008).’ Biasing influences on balance in election

news coverage: An assessment of newspaper coverage of the
2006 U. S. Senate elections’, Journalism and Mass
Communication Quarterly, 85(3): 499-514

Fischer, Louis. (1994). The Life of Mahatma Gandhi (Third imprint).New

Delhi: Indus, An imprint of Harper Collins Publishers India
Free press.

Fowler, R. (1991). Language in News: Discourse and Identity in Press. London:

Routledge.

Friedlander, P.G, Jeffery, R and Seth, S (2009). ‘Subliminal Change’: How

Hindu-Language newspaper expansion affects India. In
Arvind Rajgopal (ed). The Indian Public Sphere: Reading in
Media History (pp 88-206). New Delhi: Oxford University
Press.

Gastil, J. (2008). Political Communication and Deliberation. London: Sage.

Geeta Puri,(1989) .‘‘A Question of Identity,’’ Seminar, 362 (October 1989),

pp. 27–33.

George, A.L. (1959). Propaganda Analysis. Illinois: Row Peterson &

Company.

Giarelli, Tellen and Tulman, Lorraine (2003). Methodologies issues in the use
of published cartoons as data. Qualitative health research,
13(7): 945-956.

Gitlin, T. (1994). Making Protest Movements Newsworthy, In Doris Graber

(ed.) Media Power in Politics (second edition), New Delhi:
Macmillan.

Golgate, Sudha (2014). The emergence of regionalism in Mumbai. Mumbai:

Popular Prasakhasan

Gonsalves, P. (2010). Clothing for liberation: A communication analysis of

Gandhi’s Swadeshi Revolution. New Delhi: Sage

Goswami, N (1994) ‘A carnival of clones’, Indian Express, New Delhi, July 24.

242
Graham, BD (2012).The challenge of Hindu Nationalism: The Bharatiya
Janata party in contemporary Indian politics. In deSouza, P R
and Sridharan, E (eds).India’s political parties (pp155-172).
New Delhi: Sage publications.

Gregg, J.E. (1965). Newspaper editorial endorsements and California

elections 1948-1962. Journalism Quarterly, 42 (4):
532-538.

Grey D.L. and Brown T.R. (1970). Letters-to-the editor: Hazy Reflections of
Public Opinion. Journalism Quarterly, 47(2): 450-56.

Gunther, R and Diamond, L. (2001). Types and Functions of Parties. In Larry

Diamond and Richard Gunther (eds). Political parties and
Democracy. Baltimore. M.D: John Hopkins University Presss.

Hall, H.(2003). Junior high journalism. New York: Rosen Classroom.

Haque. (1986). Is development news more salient than human-interest

stories in India’s elite press? Gazette, 38(3): 83-99.

Hardgrave, R L. Jr and Kochaneck, S A. (2008). India: Government and

politics in a developing nation (seventh edition). Boston, USA.
Thomson/Wadsworth.

Haskins, J.B. (1965). The editorial mix: One solution to a magazine Editor’s
dilemma. Journalism Quarterly, 42(4): 557-562.

Head, S.W. (1952). Content analysis of Television drama programmes.

Quarterly of Film, Radio, T.V. 9(2): 175-192.

Heldman, C, (2009). Interest groups in Politics. In Encyclopedia of political

Communication. London: Sage Publication

Heywood (2005) The price of denial. SA National NGO Coalition and Inter
fund.

Holsti, O.R. (1968) ‘Content Analysis’, In G. Lindzey and E. Aronson (ed), The
Handbook of Social Psychology, Vol. II, (pp.608-686), New
Delhi: Amerind.

Hynds, Ernest C (1990). Changes in editorials: A study of three newspapers,

1955-1985. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly. 67:
302-312.

Ian Duncan (1999) Dalits and politics in rural North India: The India?
Theory and comparison, Commonwealth & Comparative
Politics, 50:3, 314-343, DOI:
10.1080/03066159908438724

Inkeles, A. and Geiger, K. (1953). Critical Letters-to-the editors of the Soviet

Press: Social Characteristics and interrelations of critics and
the criticized. American Sociological Review, 18 (1): 12-22.

243
Inkeles, A., and Geiger, K. (1952). Critical letters to the editors of the Soviet-
Press: Areas and modes of complaint, American Sociological
Review, 17 (6): 694-703.

Iyenger and Simon. (1997).News Coverage of the Gulf Crisis and Public
Opinion. A Study of Agenda-setting, Priming and Framing. In
Shanto Iyengar and Richard Reeves (eds.) Do the Media
Govern? Politicians, Voters and Reporters in America (pp,248-
257), London: Sage.

Iyer VRK and Sethi,V. (1996). Essays on Press Freedom. Delhi: Capital
Foundation Press.

Izadi, F and Saghaye-Biria, H.(2007). A discourse analysis of Elite American

Newspaper editorials: The case of Iran’s nuclear program,
Journal of Communication Inquiry, 31 (2):140-165

Jacob, K S. (2011). On Political Space and Coalitions. The Hindu, March.

Jacob, Preminda (2010). Celluloid deities: the visual culture of cinema and
politics in south India. New Delhi: Orient BlackSwan

Janis and Fadener (1965). Janis,I.L and Fadener,R(1965) The co-efficient of

imbalance’, in H.D. Lasswell, N. Leites and Associates(eds.),
The Language of Politics: A Quantitive Semantics(pp.55-82),
Cambridge: MIT.

Jeffery, R. (2007). Grand Canyon, Shaky bride: Media revolution and the rise
of ‘Hindu’ politics. In J. McGuire and I. Copland (eds). Hindu
Nationalism and Governance (pp 234 -255). New Delhi:
Oxford University Press.

Jeffery, R. (2010). Media & Modernity: Communications, Women and the State
in India. Ranikhet: Permanent Black.

Jeffrey, Robin. (2003). India’s newspaper revolution: Capitalism, politics and

the Indian-language press (second edition). New Delhi:
Oxford University press.

Joshi, B., 1987 'Recent Movements in Inter-Regional Mobilization of Dalit

Protest in India',South Asia Bulletin, Vol.7, Nos. 1/2.

Judge, Paranjit Singh(2012). Punjab elections in Punjab: a study of the Akali

Dal. Economic & Political Weekly , XCIVIL (18): 17-20

Kanungo, P and A. Farooqi (2008). Tracking Moditva : an analysis of

the 2007 Gujarat elections campaign, Contemporary
Prospective, 2(2):224-45

Kapoor , Coomi (2015). Emergency : first person history . New Delhi:

Penguin India.

244
Kepplinger, H.M. Donsbach, W., Brosius H. B., and Staab,J.F.( 1989). Media
Tone and Public Opinion: A longitudinal study of media
coverage and public opinion on Chancellor Kohl,
International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 1, 326-342.

Kerlinger, F.N. (1973). Foundations of Behavioural Research, (Second

edition), New York: Holt, Rinchart and Winston.

Khan, M.I. and Kumar K (1993). Studies in Modern Mass Media, Vol. I,
New Delhi: Kanishka.

Khanduri, R.G (2009). Vernacular Punches: Cartoons and Politics in colonial

India. History and Anthropology. 20(4): 459-486.

Khare, H. (2014). How Modi won it. Delhi: Hachette India.

Kidwai , Rasheed (2011). 24 Akbar Road : a short history of people behind the
fall and rise of the congress . New Delhi : Hachette India .

King, E.G. (1989). Exposing the ‘Age of lies’: The Propaganda Menace as
portrayed by magazines in the aftermath of World War I.
Journal of American Culture, 12(1): 35-40.

Kingshuk, Nag. (2011). Battle Ground Telangana: Chronicle of an Agitation.

New Delhi: Harper Collins.

Kohli-Khandekar, V. (2013). The Indian Media Business. Sage Publications

India.

Koteswara Rao, M V S (2003). Communist Parties and United Front:

Experience in Kerala and West Bengal.Hyderabad: Prajasakti
Book House.

Kothari, R., (1994). 'Rise of Dalits and the Renewed Debate on Caste',
Economic and Political Weekly, 25 June.

Kothari, Rajni (2012). The Congress ‘system’ in India. In deSouza, P R and

Sridharan, E (eds).India’s political parties (pp 59-72) New
Delhi: Sage publications.

Krippendroff, K. (1980). Content analysis: An introduction to its methodology.

California: Sage.

Krishna Murthy, N. (1966). Indian Journalism, Mysore: Mysore University

Press.

Krishna Reddy, G. (2009). Forgiving Public Opinion: The Press, Television,

and Electoral Campaigns in Andhra Pradesh. In Arvind
Rajgopal (ed). The Indian Public Sphere: Reading in Media
History (pp 228-246). New Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Krishna Reddy, G. (2010). Forging Public Opinion: The Press, Television and
Electoral Campaigns. In Arvind Rajgopal (ed). India’s Political
parties (pp 228-296). New Delhi: Oxford University Press.

245
Kumar, A and Sekhon, J S. (2014). Punjab: Towards consolidation of a bipolar
polity. In S Palshikar, K C Suri and Yogendra Yadav (eds).
Party Competition in Indian States (pp139-155). New Delhi:
Oxford University Press

Kumar, S and Ranjan, R (2014). Bihar: development finally delivered. In S

Palshikar, K C Suri and Yogendra Yadav (eds). Party
Competition in Indian States (pp 262-283). New Delhi: Oxford
University Press.

KC Suri, and Yogendra Yadav (2009). Electoral politics in Indian states : Lok
Sabha elections in 2004 and beyond. New Delhi: Oxford
University Press.

Lang K and Lang, G E (1989). Political Symbols. In Encyclopedia of

Communications, Vol III , London: Oxford University Press.

LaPalombara, J., & Weiner, M. (1969). Political parties and political

development.

Lasswell, H.D, Leites, N and Associates (1965) Language of Politics: Studies in

Quantitative Semantics, Cambridge: MIT.

Lasswell, J.D. (1948). The structure and function of communication In

society. In E. Bryson (Ed). The Communication of Ideas, New
York: Harper and Brothers.

Lodha, Sanjay (2009). ‘Rajasthan: Performance and Campaigning Pay

Dividends’, Economic & Political Weekly, 44, pp. 186-90.

Louw, Eric, P. (2005). The Media and Political Process. London: Sage
Publication.

Lowry, D.T. and David, E.T. (1989). Part-time T.V. Portrayals of Sex,
contraception and venereal diseases. Journalism Quarterly,
66 (2): 347-352.

Loynd, M. (2008). ‘Politics without television: the Bahujan Samaj party and
the Dalit counter-public sphere’. In N Mehta (ed), Television in
India: satellites, politics and cultural change (pp 62-86).
Abington/New York: Routledge.

Madhava Prasad, M (2014). Cine-Politics: Films Stars and Political Existence in

South India. New Delhi: Orient Black Swan.

Madhavi Ravikumar and DVR Murthy. (2014). Social Problems and the Indian
Press. New Delhi: Kanishka Publishers.

Madhu Babu, J. (2010). Newspapers and Naxalite movement. New Delhi:

Kanishka Publishers.

Manchanda, R. (2007). Militarized Hindu Nationalism and the Mass Media. In

J. McGuire and I. Copland (eds) (p 356-379).

246
Mankekar, D R (1977). The Rise and Fall of Indira Gandhi, New Delhi: Vikas.

Mcmillan, S J.(2000). The microscope and the moving target: The challenge
of applying content analysis to the World Wide Web.
Journalism & Mass Communication quarterly, 77(1): 80-98

McNair, Brian. (2011). Introduction to Political Communication. London:

Routledge.

Mehta, D.S. (1979). Mass Communication and Journalism in India. Bombay:

Allied Publishers.

Mendelsohn, O. and M. Vicziany, (1998). The Untouchables: Subordination,

Poverty and the State in Modern India, Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press. : pages, 218-26)

Murthy, D V R (2006). Development journalism: What next? New Delhi:

Kanishka Publishers.

Murthy, D V R, Vijai Kumar. (2013). Development Journalism and Indian

Newspapers: A content Analysis of Select dailies. New Delhi:
Kaniskha.

Murthy, D V R. (2000). Developmental news coverage in the Indian Press: An

analysis of selected dailies, Media Asia, 27(1), January-March,
2000: 19-7, 51.

Murthy, D V R. (2001). Developmental journalism, New Delhi: Dominant

Publishers.

Murthy, D V R. (2004). The Contemporary Press: A study of three press

systems. Visakhapatnam: Andhra University Press

Murthy, D V R. (2005). Media and accountability: an overview. New Delhi:

Kanishka Publishers.

Murthy, D V R. (2010). Gandhian journalism: is it relevant today? New Delhi:

Kanishka Publishers.

Murthy,D V R and Ramdas Y D. (2013) Gandhi and journalism, Kanishka

publishers, New Delhi. 2013 ISBN 978-81-8457-424-1

Narain, P. (1970). Press and Politics in India 1885-1905. Bombay: Munshiram

Manoharlal Publishers Ltd.

Narasimhan, V K. (1977). Democracy Redeemed, Delhi: S. Chand and

Company Ltd.

Narayan, Badri.(2014). Modi’s Modus Operandi in 2014 Elections, Economic

and Political Weekly, May 17, 2014, Vol.20.

Naresh I S. (2011). Political journalism and the Indian Press. An analysis of

select newspapers. Unpublished PhD thesis, Andhra
University, Visakhapatnam.

247
Natarajan, J. (1997). History of Indian Journalism (Reprint). New Delhi:
Publication Division.

Natarajan, S. (1962). A History of the Press in India, Bombay: Asia Publishing

House.

Nayar , Kuldip(2013). Emergency retold. New Delhi :Konark

publishers.

Nayar, K. (1978). The Judgment: Inside Story of Emergency, New Delhi: Vikas
Publishing House, Pvt. Ltd.

Nayar, K. (1994). Niminy-piminy press: The fourth estate has deviated from
principles. Indian Express.

Nayar, K. (2003). Journalism on the cheap. The New Indian Express.

Nayar, K. (2013). Emergency Retold. Konark Publishers.

Nehru, Jawaharlal (2004). Discovery of India New Delhi: Penguin.

Nihal Singh, S (1978). Indira’s India: A political note book. New Delhi:
Nachiketa Publications.

Ninan, S. (2007). Headlines from the Hindi Heartland. New Delhi: Sage.

Ninan, Sevanti. (2010). When news is entertainment. The Hindu, May 23

Ninan, Sevanti. (2010a). The dark face of glamour. The Hindu, July 25

North, R.C., Holsti, O. Zaninovich, M.G. and Zinnes, D.A. (1963).Content

Analysis: A handbook with applications for the Study of
international crisis. Evanston: North Western University
Press.of applying content analysis to the world wide web,
Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 77 (1) :
80-98.

Olson, B. (1994). Sex and the soaps: A comparative content Analysis of

health issues, Journalism Quarterly, 71 (4): 840-850.

Pai, S. (1993). Uttar Pradesh, agrarian change and electoral politics. Shipra.

Pai, S. (2001), From Harijan to Dalits: Identity formation, Political

Consciousness and Electoral Mobilization of the Scheduled
Castes in Uttar Pradesh. In Ghanshyam Shah (ed). Dalit
Identity and politics (pp 258-287). New Delhi: Sage.

Pai, S. and J. Singh, (1997): 'Politicisation of Dalits and Most Backward

Castes: Study of Social Conflict and Political Preferences in
Four Villages in Meerut District', Economic and Political
Weekly, 7 June.

Pai, S., (1997): 'Dalit Assertion in UP: Implications for Politics', Economic and
Political Weekly,13 Sept.

248
Paletz, David L. (1989). Politicization. In Enclyopadia of Communications, Vol
IV. London: oxford University Press

Palshikar, S (2012). Shiv Sena: A tiger with many faces? In deSouza, P R and
Sridharan, E (eds).India’s political parties (pp253-280). New
Delhi: Sage publications.

Palshikar, S., & Suri, K. C. (2014). India’s 2014 Lok Sabha elections: Critical
shifts in the long term, caution in the short term. Economic
and Political Weekly, 49, 39-76.

Pandian, M S S. (1992). The Image Trap: M G Ramchandran in Film and

Politics. New Delhi: Sage.

Pandian, M S S. (1997). Culture and Subaltern Consciousness: An Aspect of

the MGR Phenomenon. In P. Chattarjee (ed). State and Politics
in India (pp 367-389). New Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Parthasarathy, R. (1984). Basic Journalism. New Delhi: Macmillan.

Parthasarathy, R. (1991) Journalism in India. New Delhi: Sterling Publishers.

Parthasarathy, R. (2009). .Journalism in India (Third edition). New Delhi:

Sterling Publishers.

Philipose, Pamela (2010, May9). What Price, fame? The Hindu Press Council
of India (2008). State of Newspapers scene in 2007. New
Delhi: Centre for Media Studies.

Prasad , MM (2014). Cine-politics: film stars and political existence in

south India . New Delhi : Orient Black Swan.

Priest, H. (1996). Doing media research. London: Sage

Quraishi, SY(2012). An undocumented wonder: the making of the great

Indian election. New Delhi : Rupa &co.

Rai, P. (2014). Fallibility of Opinion Polls in India. Economic & Political

Weekly, 49(18), 13.

Rajgopal, A. (2009). A ‘Split Public’ in the Making and Unmaking of the Ram
Janmabhoomi Campaign. In Arvind Rajgopal (ed). The Indian
Public Sphere: Reading in Media History (pp 201-227). New
Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Ramachadra Guha. (2007). India after Gandhi New Delhi: Penguin.

Ramakrishna, C. (2001). Historical Perspective of Press Freedom in India.

Visakhapatnam: Andhra University Press.

Ramana Murthy, G .(2014) Political Parties and Press in India: An Analysis of

Editorials. Unpublished PhD thesis, Andhra University,
Visakhapatnam

249
Rammoham Rao, N (1991). Telugu Newspapers: New Experiments and
Consequences (in Telugu). Hyderabad: Telugu University.

Ratna Kumari, B, and Sailaja, N. (1997). The Women Rouse: An overview of

Anti-liquor and aftermath, Visakhapatnam: Andhra University
Press.

Riffe, D. Aust, C.F. and Lacy, S.R. (1993). The effectiveness of random,
consecutive day and constructed week sampling in
newspaper analysis. Journalism Quarterly, 70 (1): 133-139.

Rodrigues, U M. (2010). Print Media in the Era of Globalized World. (pp 53-
68). New Delhi: Sage Publications.

Rodrigues, V. (2012). The Communist parties in India. In deSouza, P R and

Sridharan,E (eds).India’s political parties (pp 199-252) New
Delhi: Sage publications.

Ross, S D. (1998). “Their Rising voices”: A Study of Civil Rights, Social

Movements and Advertising in the New York Times.
Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 75(3): 518-
534.

Roy,Barun(2000).A beginners’ guide to journalism and mass communication.

New Delhi: V& S publishers.

Sainath, P. (2009). The medium, mesSage and money. The Hindu, October 26

Sanghvi , Veer (2015). Mandate: will of the people. New Delhi:

Westland .

Schudson, M. (1989).The sociology of news production. Media,culture and

society,11(3), 263-282.

Selbourne, David (1977). An Eye to India: The Unmasking of a Tyranny. New

Delhi: Penguin.

Shah, Amrit. (2010). Editor Khush Hua. Outlook, November, (pp.118-122).

Shastri, Sandeep , KC Suri, and Yogendra Yadav (2009. Electoral politics in

Indian states : Lok Sabha elections in 2004 and
beyond. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Shaw, D.L. and McCombs ,M.E.(1989). Dealing with illicit drugs: The power
and limits of agenda-setting. In Pamela Shoemaker(ED),
Communication Campaign about drugs: Government, Media
and Public. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Ass.

Shourie, Arun. (1988). “But the Other way yes, Convince Him! Indian Express,
New Delhi, September 19.

Singh, Tavleen (1994). Hacking away competition. Indian Express, October

22.

Singh, Tavleen (2013). Durbar. New Delhi : Hachette India.

250
Sitapati, V.(2016).Half Lion: How PV Narasimha Rao Transformed India. New
Delhi:Penguin.

Sridharan, E. (2005) Coalition strategies and the BJP's expansion, 1989–

2004, Commonwealth & Comparative Politics, 43 (2), pp.194-
221, DOI: 10.1080/14662040500151093

Sridharan, E. (2012). (eds).India’s political parties (pp 253-280)New Delhi:

Sage publications.

Srinuvasulu, K. (2004) 'Political Articulation and Policy Discourse in 2004

Elections in Andhra Pradesh', GAPS Series, Working Paper 1,
Centre of Economic and Social Studies.

Stempel, G.H. (1952), Sample size for classifying subject matter in Dailies.
Journalism Quarterly, 29: 333-334.

Street, J. (2003). The Celebrity Politician, Political Style and Popular Culture.
In J Corner and Dick Pels (Eds). Media and The Restyling of
Politics (pp. 85-98). London: Sage Publications.

Subramaninam, V. (2010). From Political Ayodhya to Legal Ayodhya. The

Hindu, October 16.

Subramanyam. (1984). Press and National Movement in South India, Andhra

Pradesh 1905-1932. Chennai: News Era publication.

Suchitra (1995) What Moves Masses: Dandi March as Communication

Strategy. Economic and Political Weekly, 743-746.

Sudha Pai. (2001). From Harijan to Dalits: Identity formation, Political

Consciousness and Electoral Mobilization of the Scheduled
Castes in Uttar Pradesh. In Ghanshyam Shah (ed). Dalit
Identity and politics (pp 258-287). New Delhi: Sage.

Suri, K C, Rao, PN and Reddy, A. (2014). Andhra Pradesh: political shifts and
electoral volatility. In S Palshikar, K C Suri and Yogendra
Yadav (eds). Party Competition in Indian States (pp481-496).
New Delhi: Oxford University Press

Suri, K C. (2006). Telugu Desam Party. In deSouza, P R and Sridharan, E

(eds).India’s political parties (pp 281-310) New Delhi: Sage
publications.

Suri, K C. (2012). Telugu Desam party. In deSouza, P R and Sridharan, E

(eds).India’s political parties (pp281-310). New Delhi: Sage
publications.

Thakurta, P.G. (2010). Cut-Rate Democracy, Outlook, November 1 (p90-92).

Thomas, Pradip N. (2010). The Political Economy of Communications in India.

New Delhi: Sage.

Thukkeran, N M. (2010). Stop Press! No breaking news, please.

251
Vaasanthi. (2006). Cut Outs, Caste and Cine Stars: The World of Tamil Politics.
New Delhi: Penguin.

Vacin, G.L. (1965). A study of letter writers; Journalism Quarterly, 42 92):

464-465.

Van Dijk, Teun A. (1988). News analysis; case studies of international and
national news in press. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates.

Vanaik, A. (1990). The painful transition: Bourgeois democracy in India.

Verso Books.

Verghese, B G. (2005). Warrior of the fourth estate: Ramnath Goenka of the

Express. New Delhi: Penguin

Verney, Douglas V.(2004).‘‘How Has the Proliferation of Parties Affected the

Indian Federation: A Comparative Approach,’’ in Zoya Hasan,
E. Sridharan, and R. Sudarshan, (eds). India’s Living
Constitution (pp. 134–58).Delhi: Permanent Black.

Vijai Kumar.(2010). Development Journalism and Indian Newspapers: a

content analysis of Dailies. Unpublished PhD. Andhra
University, Visakhapatnam.

Vilanilam, J.V. (2005). Mass Communication in India, New Delhi: Sage

Publications.

Vilanilam, J.V. (2009). Development Communication in practice, New Delhi:

Sage Publications.

Wang, J. (1996). The siren songs of consumption: An analysis of foreign

advertisements in two mainland Chinese newspapers,
Gazette, 56 (3): 201-219.

Ware , Alan(1996). Political parties and party systems. Oxford

University Press.

Weiner, M (2012). Party politics and electoral behavior: From Independence

to the 1980s. In deSouza, P R and Sridharan, E (eds) .India
political parties (pp116-154). New Delhi: Sage publications.

Weiner, M., & Field, J. O. (1975). How Tribal Constituencies in India Vote'. of
Weiner, M. and Field, JO (eds.), Electoral Politics in the Indian
States, 3, 78-164.

Woodrum, E. (1984). Mainstreaming content analysis in Social Science:

Methodological advantage, obstacles and solutions. Social
Science Research, 13 (2): 1-19.

Yadav, J.S. (1985) ‘The Changing Social Role of Indian press’, Media Asia, 12
(3): 111-119.

252
Yadav, Y and Palshikar S. (2014).Between Fortuna and Virtu: Explaining
Congress ambiguous victory in 2009. In S Palshikar, K C Suri
and Yogendra Yadav (eds). Party Competition in Indian
States.(pp 42-99). New Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Yadav, Yogendra (1996). Reconfiguration in Indian politics: state

assembly elections 1993-95. Economic & Political
Weekly, 31(2-3):95-104.

Zoya Hasan. (2014).The Congress’ moment of truth. The Hindu,

Visakhapatnam, August 12.

253