on Keral election

MEDIA MARGINALISATION OF REALITIES
TARGETING THE LEFT
Ratheesh Kaliyadan

Kerala is in its path of hot discussions regarding the state legislative assembly elections. Last couples of days our media dedicated most of their time and space to deliver whether V.S Achuthanandan, the chief minister and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader will be a contestant or not. They provided prime importance for the issue. The CPI (M) state secretariat meeting and state committee meeting got prime attention. The reason was a rumor that the party denies seat to Com.V.S.achuthanandan.

Com. V.S.Achuthanandan

Before the completion of the secretariat meeting almost all electronic media declared that the party denied seat to the Chief Minister. To establish their advocacy they quoted Com.V.S’s body language. By reading the kinesthetic, media people made sure that ‘he will not be a candidate’. After state committee the same day evening, they repeated the same story that the comrade will not contest without any ‘official or responsible respond’. To the questions of the media people, com.V.S told ‘everything will say those who are the authority to say’. The words interpreted in different ways. It leads to establish that factionalism reflects not only in Kerala party but in the Polit Bureau itself. A group of media picturised com. Prakash Karat as a mouth piece of com. Pinarayi.
Following the media reports, the so called VS followers made violent expressions, posters, flex boards etc. Indiavision channel made a live demo of state committee decisions. Within moments they reported followers responds in the forms of expressions. Shouting slogans against the party leaders, posters… the news encouraged a lot of passive activists to jump to the ground and they also became part of the expressions.

Com. Pinarayi Vijayan

At last today ( March 19, 2011) 12.45 PM media conference at the AKG Center, Trivandrum, CPI(M) state secretary Com.Pinarayi Vijayan declared the candidate list. The list included com. V.S. Achuthanandan as a candidate from Malampuzha constituency. By the publication of the list, all media advocacies and agendas became a futile. To the questions of media people com. Pinarayi told that com.V.S is part of our party and he involved in all processes of selecting the candidates. He requested the media not to display the leader as one who is apart from the party leadership. Also described that V.S is being elected since 1967 without any recommendation from any external forces. Every decision came from the party itself as it is today. He also added that while a leader like VS is contesting, question like who leads the LDF is a blunder.

An important question raises here. Why do our media spend so much time to discuss an unwanted matter? Or is it because of the media intervention, VS became a candidate? While examining the communist methodology of selecting a candidate and declaring it, the second doubt is a waste. They will consider every aspect. If it is decided, media intervention will not help anybody to creep into the list. This is a reality what everybody knows. What media should do is one, be more tolerant and wait for an official declaration. All other exercises on imagining or assessing partially got information are not part of responsible journalism. Political sensations will not help us anymore. By these hidden agenda of certain media to tarish communists, we lose a lot of time and space. Moreover, precious time and space to discuss the real issues are deviating. To highlight the real development and ideological positions is necessary. In between the unwanted talks and sensitivities the real issues are being marginalized.