GoanTimes May, 31 2019

02 World
Friday, May 31, 2019 | www.goantimes.titosgoa.com | 12 Pages
‘NaMoment’: How front pages reported Narendra
Modi’s huge mandate for a second term
All regional and national newspapers credited Modi for the BJP’s sweeping victory.
As predicted by pollsters, the Bharatiya
Janata Party-led National Democratic
Alliance swept the Lok Sabha elections.
As of 10.08 am on Friday, the Election
Commission data said the BJP has won
299 seats and is leading in four more
while the Congress bagged 52 seats.
Once all the results are declared, the
NDA’s tally is likely to touch 351 while
the United Progressive Alliance may be
restricted at 92.
“This is not Modi’s victory,” the
prime minister said in his victory
speech on Thursday at the BJP
headquarters in New Delhi. “This is
victory of honest people’s hope, this is
a victory of youths who have walked on
the path of 21st century with dreams.”
But other BJP leaders like Rajnath
Singh, Amit Shah, Sushma Swaraj,
Suresh Prabhu and Ram Vilas Paswan
credited Modi for the electoral triumph.
The Hindustan Times called the
landslide victory “NaMoment”. The
daily listed three ways the saffron
party achieved this feat – it said the
BJP consolidated its strongholds, was
flexible when it came to allying with
regional parties, and cashed in on
anti-incumbency sentiments in states
like West Bengal and Odisha. The front
page of the daily also included
reactions from top Opposition leaders
like Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee
and Mayawati.
“Chowkidar’s Chamatkar” read the
headline on the front page of The Times
of India. The daily said nationalism,
Hindutva and welfare powered the BJP
to this resounding victory. The “Modi
factor” and the surgical strikes did
wonders for the saffron party, according
to the newspaper. The daily also said
the Congress’ slogan “chowkidar chor
hai” backfired and that the comments of
Sam Pitroda and Mani Shankar Aiyar
were ill-timed. The daily highlighted
how Smriti Irani seized Congress
bastion Amethi from Rahul Gandhi.
Maharashtra Times had a cartoon of
Modi making the victory sign with the
headline “Namotsav!”. It reported that
despite Rahul Gandhi’s “chowkidar chor
hai” slogan, Mamata Banerjee’s jibes
and two dozen Opposition politicians
coming together, voters rejected them
all once again. “As the entire country
is swept up in admiration for the BJP,
everyone is celebrating the festival of
NaMo,” it said.
The Telegraph kept it simple. The
front page of the daily had just three
words: “He is back”. The newspaper
called the victory “thunder of
majority”. “The gigantic Modi wave 2.0
rendered individual BJP candidates
redundant just as it papered over
economic distress, social division and
quotidian concerns that normally
haunt incumbent government,” it said.
“Invincible Modi,” read the headline
on NavBharat Times. It said the slogan
“Modi hai to mumkin hai” has been
proved true after the results. The
newspaper said Modi is the one and only
reason for the victory. “Modi’s name
created such faith in voters that no wall
of religion and caste could stand in front
of him and there was no meaning of any
opposition alliance,” it reported.
The Mid-Day newspaper played on the
Game of Thrones analogy and said that
Amit Shah delivered the Iron Throne to
PM Modi.
The page is quite impressive with PM
Modi sitting on the Iron Throne, with
Amit Shah standing by his side. The
paper highlights that unlike the Game
of Thrones series finale, India loved the
finale of its own version of the Thrones.
The paper talks about the defeat of
the Grand Alliance in the North and
Mamata Banerjee's defeat in the East.
Assamese daily Amabo Assam led
with the headline, “Modi back with
decisive mandate”. It said the public
has put its faith in Modi yet again.
“Although the opposition and a section
of the media said the Modi wave of 2014
was a thing of the past, it is evident that
this time it was a tsunami,” the daily
reported.