‘Very, very big news…massive, massive development'—How TV covered Jagdeep Dhankhar resignation
He went from being the news of the day and the subject of all evening discussions across news channels on Tuesday, to literally being yesterday's headline.
By Wednesday morning, Jagdeep Dhankhar was history. SIR in the Bihar Assembly had taken over the television news space.
Why had Dhankhar suddenly resigned as the Vice President of India—'Dhexit' as NDTV 24×7 called it—on the night of 21 July? And why did he cite ill health for his hasty departure, when he had appeared in good shape just three hours earlier?
To begin with, nobody knew—and they didn't get time to ring up their 'sources' in the government. Television news anchors were caught smack in the middle of their 9 pm debates when Dhankhar publicly announced his resignation, so they went with his explanation and gave it the 'breaking news' treatment on Monday night.
A somewhat distracted Rajdeep Sardesai called it 'Big news' on India Today; CNN News 18's Rahul Shivshankar, who repeats words for maximum effect, said it was 'Very, very big news… a massive, massive development'. Republic's Arnab Goswami described it in a four-letter word: 'Huge'. 'There's no other angle to this, clearly,' Goswami added with finality and went back to his earlier debate.
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'Something is wrong'
By Tuesday evening, Goswami found more angles to the 'shock exit' than there are in a hexagon. Did Dhankhar 'go overboard… try to shock the government, grab a headline…', and did he call a senior Congress leader at 7:30 pm—'why on earth, earth, earth…' would he do that? Obviously, Goswami detected the Congress hand behind Dhankhar's actions.
Other 9 pm TV news anchors also played 'Question Hour' throughout the day with endless rhetorical questions. It allowed them to freely speculate on the former vice president's resignation. 'Did he overplay his hand?' asked NDTV 24×7.
'Why did he do it?' asked India TV's Rajat Sharma. Why did he keep the government in the dark over the Opposition's impeachment motion? Why did he meet the President in secrecy to hand over his resignation?
The often sarcastic Sandeep Chaudhary of ABP News wondered if he had left or was made to leave. How come Dhankhar remembered his serious health issue only at 9:25 pm on Monday? Why had no minister visited him if he was seriously ill? What happened in the two and a half hours after his last official meeting?
'Something is wrong…' he concluded like ACP Pradyuman from the popular TV series C.I.D.
Round and round, television news circled around the possible reasons for the 'shocking' and 'inexplicable' quitting of Jagdeep Dhankhar (India Today)—all of them arrived at the same conclusion as Republic TV's reporter: 'Obviously something has happened.'
Gee, thanks.
A love affair
Now, if only everyone had read this Times Now story early in the morning, it would have been clear that 'The acceptance of an Opposition-sponsored motion for the removal of high court judge Yashwant Varma… followed by a decision to announce two business advisory committee meetings without consulting…'' the government led to Dhankhar's resignation
This theory hit the headlines across news channels Tuesday and gained validity with each telling.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi all but confirmed that all was not well between the VP and PM with his terse tweet of farewell at midday. Also, as TV anchors and Opposition leaders who were interviewed pointed out, no minister or BJP MP had messaged well wishes to Dhankhar.
Once it was an open secret, reporters spoke freely on Dhankhar v/s Government over his remarks concerning the judiciary, farmers and his apparent cosy-cosy with Congress leaders.
India TV came up with another possible reason: A day earlier, Dhankhar had a party where Opposition politicians were invited—including former Delhi chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal. Ispo facto, the ex-VP and the Opposition had developed feelings for each other.
Also read: Hindi TV news channels' favourite villain the Muslim is back—Mitthoo Mian to Muharram
Radio silence
Who would be the next Vice President? That question made the rounds on news channels and just like we never know Kaun Banega Crorepati, the TV anchors and reporters were clueless. That didn't stop the speculation: CNN News 18 had a list ready—Nitish Kumar, Rajnath Singh, Shashi Tharoor, JP Nadda, Manoj Sinha.
No chance it's going to Nitish Kumar, said an 'expert' on India TV who went on to suggest it could be someone from Punjab, where the BJP wants to gain a strong foothold. The channel also suggested there were 'big changes' in the offing.
Well, can't wait, right?
Taking a cue from the government, news channels did not carry any major profiles of the former Vice President. Nor did they try to interview anyone who was close to him. They didn't stand outside the gate of his official residence, either, waiting to see who went in or came out and grab a soundbyte—as they usually do.
Finally, there were no BJP participants in the TV debates on Dhankhar's departure and only a very few interviews with BJP or NDA MPs. There was only radio silence
The official info-vacuum was filled with 'sourced information' (NDTV 24×7)—a euphemism for the government. That Dhankhar stepped out of line became the accepted version of events for television news. The truth? Hmmm. Between the government's silence and the habit of television news to follow the official account of events, there's no knowing.
The author tweets @shailajabajpai. Views are personal.
(Edited by Theres Sudeep)
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