Brief: Foreign Media, Political Players in Bharat’s Elections

Bharat, a country with 1.4 billion population and over 968.8 million registered voters, is in the midst of largest democratic exercise of franchise in seven phases over two months ending on June 4.

In the midst of election fury, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Bellari, the mining town in the country’s southern state of Karnataka a few days back. Prime Modi made a significant statement relating to foreign propaganda in the elections to Bharat’s Parliament with upper and lower houses.

A few were surprised when Modi said, “when the country is progressing rapidly, some countries and some institutions do not like it. There are many people who do not want a strong Bharat. They want the country and its government to be weak so that they can easily make profits. Since 2014, a campaign for cleanliness has been going on in the country’s power corridors. Bharat will progress as a developed nation.”

Progressing to become a developed nation is logical extension of high growth trajectory in which Bharat is currently cruising. But, what stands out is Indian Prime Minister’s assertion about the country’s foes that may like to disrupt this organic progression by influencing the electoral process. In a nuanced speech, Prime Minister Modi talked about foreign powers’ false propaganda, interference and attempts at intervention in Bharat’s elections to see a weak and pliable government at helm in New Delhi.

(Author Rohan Giri is a journalism graduate from Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) New Delhi, and a Content Manager at CIHS.)