Why did most of the Indian media failed to notice one of the biggest wave elections of recent times?
My opinion is – Because of ‘scotomisation’!
In people who suffer scotoma – their eyes see what the mind wants them to see. So, since the media did not want a wave, it did not see one. They had their own theories (on demonetisation & religious / caste polarisation). Some of these theories were based on a deep-rooted bias against Modi and some emanated from a profound sense of ‘let-them-eat-cake’ Lutyens-Delhi elitism. So, they twisted facts to suit their theories rather than moulding their theories around on-ground facts! They didn’t learn from Sherlock Holmes & Dr. Gregory House.
They completely ignored the realities of the lead-up local / civic elections across the country or the fact that many of the people voting in UP had never seen a 1000 rupee note. They ignored the banking inclusion reforms, direct cash transfers, electrification of rural India, LPG cylinder scheme and many more… all executed by the central government. These ensured A) A direct connect between the citizen and the central government (bypassing the ration shop owner, the tehsildar, the MLA and the CM) and B) People experienced REAL CHANGE in their lives for the first time. They had now gotten used to seeing the promises of bijli, etc etc actually come through, for the first time, and they were in no mood to let this connection go.
2 pieces by Tavleen Singh & Sreemoy Talukdar are quite lucid about this!