ITV

Tag: Rahul Gandhi

  • Narendra Modi picks ETV network for first election interview

    Narendra Modi picks ETV network for first election interview

    MUMBAI: Ever since Congress vice president, Rahul Gandhi, gave his first ever television interview after making his political debut in 2004 to Times Now editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami, everyone has been waiting with abated breathe which channel will BJP’s prime ministerial candidate opt for.

     

    Finally, the wait is over as Narendra Modi has decided to go the other way and give his first election interview to a regional channel, ETV Gujarati. While the channel’s senior anchor Hari Shankar Vyas was picked to grill Modi, the interview has been conducted in Hindi rather than Gujarati, a move to reach out to a larger audience.

     

    Shot on 27 March, the one and a half hour episode will be telecast across the ETV Network’s Gujarati news channel, Urdu channel and Hindi news channels (ETV UP/Uttarakhand, ETV MP/Chhattisgarh, ETV Bihar/Jharkhand, ETV Rajasthan) on 31 March at 8:30 pm. The network is currently exploring options to also simultaneously telecast it on the ETV GECs as well.

     

    Other regional ETV channels such as Kannada, Marathi, Bangla and Odiya will telecast it on a later date and time, that hasn’t been fixed as yet. These will have subtitles in their respective languages.

     

    ETV channels are now under Network18 in which Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) is a shareholder. Network18’s other news channels such as CNN-IBN and IBN7 will also air the interview.

     

    The promos for the interview will start airing by 7:00 pm today.

  • BJP’s campaign is dull, drab and quite ordinary: Prathap Suthan

    BJP’s campaign is dull, drab and quite ordinary: Prathap Suthan

    MUMBAI: The upcoming election is possibly the only one in a long history of five-year polls, where political parties are unabashedly using media to promote their prime ministerial candidates and agendas.

    Thus we have both the main players – the Congress and Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) – splurging crores of public money on election campaigns in a bid to outdo each other. Indeed, Congress was the first to jump into the fray with the tagline ‘Main nahi, Hum’ which attracted much controversy, what with the BJP claiming the punch line had originally been used by its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi at a ‘Chintan Shivir’ in Gujarat.

    However, the BJP lost no time in launching its own campaign with posters, TVCs, radio spots shouting themselves hoarse – ‘Ab ki Baar, Modi Sarkar’. The underlying message being that the common man’s woes such as inflation, lack of women’s safety etc. would be assuaged if Modi was elected for the country’s top job.

    With the political climate hotting-up this election season, both campaigns are attracting their fair share of bouquets and brickbats. But we thought it would be interesting to speak to Prathap Suthan – the man who created BJP’s earlier ‘India Shining’ campaign (2004) – and get his perspective. Excerpts…

    What do you have to say about the BJP slogan? Do you see it touching an emotional chord with urban and rural voters?

    Barring the fact that it rhymes, I don’t think it’s an inspiring slogan. It’s a mere auto suggestion as to what the voter should do. It doesn’t hold out any promise, mission and vision to people like us. It’s dull, drab and quite ordinary.

    Do you think the BJP has started too early or too late?

    The BJP campaign is at least a month late. Worse still, despite the fact they have started and bits and pieces are making their way onto social media, they have been invisible. Till yesterday, I haven’t seen their advertising in print or on TV. Anymore invisibility and they’d be sending out wrong signals to the electorate. But knowing them, and their almost strident confidence, I suspect their cause has been sabotaged by terrible media planning or a media boycott. I can’t think of any other reason why their campaign hasn’t broken out in media yet.

    Modi stands for development. Do you think the current campaign and slogan brings out this core message?

    If the Modi line of thinking has to do with progress and development, the campaign should have been a reflection of that. This is a boring campaign. I see no cues of development and young and contemporary thinking in this. Congress on the other hand, despite whatever else, has better looking advertising by far.

    What are your views on the AAP and the way they use publicity in their favour?

    I used to like the idea of AAP. But somewhere, they’ve changed into something else that they shouldn’t be.

    Considering that they don’t have the kind of media budgets that the main parties have, their public activist avatar keeps them in view. It is clever thinking because media will carry and play the de facto advertising vehicle. However, too of much of everything has a down side. You can’t be a serious national party when you pick up street fighting as a brand character. At some level, it will backfire. Leadership, and genuinely inspiring stewardship of the nation is what’s missing today, and AAP isn’t quite playing that wedge.

    One piece of advice you’d like to give to the creative and media agencies that are handling the BJP and Congress accounts?

    There is no point advising advertising agencies. I believe all of us are equally qualified and experienced to handle large campaigns. We do that day in day out, and on some very challenging focussed briefs. In this case, the client takes the call and at times, dictates. The fault, if any, doesn’t lie with the agencies. It has to squarely lie with the parties.

    Lastly, of the two parties, which is the campaign you are betting on and why?

    I think the country is loaded in favour of BJP – but they have an uninspiring campaign. One man almost looms over you. Congress, however, seems to have delivered the campaign better. It’s younger looking, modern, non-traditional, and in a strange way, more inclusive.

  • “TV news has changed and it won’t change back”

    “TV news has changed and it won’t change back”

    MUMBAI:  “It’s ironical that a journalist who has been labelled as ‘self opinionated’ has been called for the session on ‘The electronic news media: on fine balance?’” began television’s most vociferous anchor and Times Now editor-in-chief, who has often faced criticism for his in-your-face brand of journalism.

     

    Arnab Goswami was just being himself when he wondered aloud why he had been invited to deliver the keynote at the ongoing FICCI Frames 2014.

     

    Taking centre stage, he proceeded to narrate the incident that made Times Now a household name and the six mantras that he bears in mind at all times.

     

    “To all my critics I say that TV news has changed, and it won’t change back,” Goswami said to a loud applause from the audience.

     

    He recalled how Times Now had relentlessly pursued the story of a small child called Prince who fell into a borewell in 2006 to get people to take the channel seriously. At the time, the channel had become the butt of jokes for the political class. “In 2006, we were mocked by politicians who termed us as ‘Times When’ rather than ‘Times Now’ and I then found my voice through Prince,” said the presenter notorious for his irreverent style.

     

    Goswami went on to explain that the reason behind making Prince the talking point for days on end was to highlight the preferential treatment meted out to children of politicians and corporates vis-a-vis the common man of India.

     

    With the same passion (some call it aggression) that he displays while moderating his much viewed debates, Goswami revealed the six rules he keeps close to his heart. “The old media is dead or it is dying”; “Politicians will always be touchy to criticism; you don’t be touchy about their touchiness”; “Opinion is important; I believe in opinion without prejudice”; “TV story telling has changed”; “News is a form of social content” and “We make people talk and think”.

     

    The man who repeatedly drowns out all other voices on his show had to face a volley of questions at the session anchored by BBC senior correspondent Jon Sopel.

     

    When asked why he didn’t think of becoming a politician, Goswami quipped that he wanted to enter people’s ‘mindspace’.

     

    In reply to a question about the forthcoming elections, he said he would be unhappy if he didn’t get to interview Gujarat Chief Minister and BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi before the polls. He also said he wished the interview with Congress’ Rahul Gandhi had turned out better.

     

    Goswami revealed that from the beginning of April, Times Now would embark on a series aimed at unearthing the skeletons in people’s closets, in a bid to make them accountable for their actions or words.

     

    On the subject of journalism, he said there was a dearth of talent in the profession as the new generation was hungry for more assertive media. “Let me tell you that 2014 to 2025 is going to be the most amazing time for TV news to come,” he concluded.

  • Who will be the next PM?

    Who will be the next PM?

    MUMBAI: In a series of interrelated opinion and exit polls over the next two months NDTV will be conducting among the biggest and most rigorous polling exercises ever – covering over 350 (out of the 543) Lok Sabha constituencies with a total sample size of over 2 lakh. The sample selection methodology is based on electoral rolls to ensure a random sample with other technology innovations and new methods of interviewing voters (for example, wherever feasible, women field-workers interviewed female voters).

     
    Witness the biggest election coverage in the history of Indian television as NDTV presents the most credible, non-partisan, non-sensational election analysis.

    The channel will also undertake a separate re-contact exercise through phone calls just before the elections to gauge shift of voters’ opinion over time. More than 350 constituencies will be covered across the opinion polls and the Exit Poll will also cover more than 350 constituencies. These opinion polls will be conducted in three phases which will seek to understand the mood of the nation and electoral preferences for parties; get a pulse of the nation and analyse shifts in voter perception and preference followed by an Exit Poll for seat prediction state-by-state.

     

    NDTV will be using innovative methods to ensure  better data quality which will include regular updates and tracking through mobile telephonic-surveys, votes to seats conversion based on proprietary IPR using homogenous swing zones, multi-party swings and margins of victory and changes in the extent of vote-splitting in each homogeneous swing zone.

    Fieldwork and interviews conducted by Hansa Research Group. Watch Prannoy Roy and Dorab Sopariwala present India’s BIGGEST EVER Opinion Poll on Thursday 13 and Friday 14 March from 8-10pm

     

  • CNN-IBN & IBN7 are back with Kings & Queens

    CNN-IBN & IBN7 are back with Kings & Queens

    MUMBAI: Living up to its legacy of offering the most extensive and diverse election programming line-up in the industry, CNN-IBN & IBN7 are back with ‘Kings & Queens’. The show will profile key political leaders such as Narendra Modi, Arvind Kejriwal, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi to name a few, who are likely to play a central and defining role in the 2014 General Elections.

    Fronted by IBN Network’s senior-most and best known anchors-Deputy Editor Sagarika Ghose, National Bureau Chief Bhupendra Chaubey, Deputy Foreign Editor Suhasini Haidar and Senior Editor Anubha Bhosle, ‘Kings & Queens’ will examine the life and political careers of these key individuals, and will examine how they could emerge as a King or a Queen or be a King-maker. The documentaries will include people who are significant in their lives-their classmates, close relatives, mentors, friends, strongest allies as well as critics.

    Rajdeep Sardesai, Editor-in-Chief, CNN-IBN, IBN7 & IBN-Lokmat, said, “As we approach the most crucial elections in the history of India, we have a diverse and extensive election based programming in the pipeline. To help our viewers know their leaders better, we bring to you our much acclaimed documentary series Kings and Queens, which will trace the journey of political leaders who are set to influence the upcoming General Election significantly.”

    Don’t miss this special documentary series starting from 28th February, every Friday 10.00 PM only on CNN-IBN & 1st March onwards every Saturday 10.30 PM only on IBN7.

  • NBA asks politicians to keep political discourse civil and sane

    NBA asks politicians to keep political discourse civil and sane

    MUMBAI: New channels normally throw the spotlight on politicians. As the ensuing elections to the Lok Sabha are turning out to be the most bitterly fought, it is the new channels that are coming under attack from politicians.

     

    Former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal recently lashed out at TV news channels. He accused the news channels of being biased towards BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and Congress’ poll campaign chief Rahul Gandhi.

     

    On Monday, home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde shocked the media fraternity when he claimed that the intelligence wing had been keeping a tab on news channels and that the government would ‘crush’ the elements in electronic media engaged in spreading false propaganda.

     

    In the wake of these attacks, the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) has decided to hit back. It has objected to the kind of unwarranted criticism news channels are faced with.

     

    A statement issued by the NBA said:

     

    “News Broadcasters Association (NBA) objects to the unverified, unsubstantiated and highly defamatory charges being levelled against news channels by Mr Arvind Kejriwal of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and their members attributing corrupt motives and accusing the electronic media for not giving enough coverage or ignoring this or that party, without specific details to substantiate such charges. It is shocking to note that the very parties that gained immensely from media coverage are today turning against the electronic media, when they are under scrutiny on issues of governance.

     

    NBA is equally shocked by the statement of the Home Minister of India that he would crush the electronic media and that a “close watch” was being kept on them.

     

    NBA categorically states that a news channel’s endeavour is to cover news worthy events across all segments of national and international life and to present news to viewers, which is current and relevant. The media provides a service that is essential for any democratic society. This is particularly important when the most fundamental aspect of a democracy, the elections, are round the corner. At such a time, the media plays an indispensable role in enabling citizens to stay well informed and make important choices. There can be no acceptable reason for attacking the media on frivolous unsubstantiated grounds. Intimidation and preventing the media from performing its duties amounts to interfering with the freedoms enshrined in and guaranteed by the Constitution.

     

    NBA appeals to political leaders from all parties and public figures not to level baseless charges against the media and keep the discourse civil and sane.”

  • ABP NEWS NIELSEN – KAUN BANEGA PRADHANMANTRI – Modi most preferred as PM

    ABP NEWS NIELSEN – KAUN BANEGA PRADHANMANTRI – Modi most preferred as PM

    MUMBAI: NDA to bag 236 seats, BJP likely to get 217 seats in LS polls, AAP 10 and Cong 73 seats; Modi most preffered as PM: ABP News-Nielsen opinion poll

     

    BJP likely to emerge as the single largest party with 217 seats and NDA to get 236 in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, predicts opinion poll conducted by ABP News-Nielsen. Congress to confine with 73 seats and Kejriwal’s AAP likely to get atound 10 seats in the Lok Sabha polls. NDA has gained 10 seats as compared to the opinion poll conducted in January, 2014. NDA predicted to get a vote share of 46 per cent from Western India and around 38 per cent vote share in northern India.

     

    UPA  92

    NDA  236

    Left.  29

    Others 186

    Total 543

     

    As per the ABP News-Nielsen opinion poll, Narendra Modi seems to be a clear choice as Prime Minister. Over 57 per cent respondents want Modi to be PM. Rahul Gandhi scores over Kejriwal with 18 per cent. Only 3 per cent respondents have voted for Arvind Kejriwal as prime minister.

     

    Narendra Modi 57%

    Rahul Gandhi 18%

    Arvind Kejriwal 3%

     

    As per the opinion poll, the so-called federal front is predicted to beat the UPA with around 186 seats.

     

    AIADMK 19

    AITC 29

    BJD 16

    BSP 13

    CPM 18

    CPI 7

    DMK 13

    JDU 9

     

    According to the ABP News-Nielsen opinion poll, Inflation emerges as the issue which affects people the most in their day to day life with 46% respondents saying so. According to 34 per cent respondents corruption is the biggest problem and 18 per cent feel unemployment is a major problem.

     

    Price rise./inflation 46%

    Corruption.             34%

    Unemployment.      18%

     

    As per the opinion poll, BJP likely to get around 80 seats in north India. NDA to get around 88 seats of the 151-seat north India. AAP likely to get 9 seats and Congress 17 seats. UPA predicted to get 23 seats.

     

    UPA. 23

    NDA. 88

    Left. 0

    Others 40

    Total 151

     

    As per the ABP News-Nielsen opinion poll, NDA likely to get 88 seats in western India. BJP alone to get 79 seats. Congress likely to get 15 seats and AAP to get only one seat in the 116- seat western India.

     

    UPA. 22

    NDA. 88

    Left. 0

    Others 6

    Total 116

                               

    According to the ABP News-Nielsen opinion poll, UPA to lead marginally over NDA with 26 seats in southern India. Congress to get 23, BJP likely to get 20 seats in South.

     

    UPA. 26

    NDA. 21

    Left. 15

    Others 72

    Total 134

     

    As per the ABP News-Nielsen opinion poll, NDA to lead with 39 seats, BJP likely to get 38 seats. Congress predicted to get around 18 seats in Eastern India.

     

    UPA. 21

    NDA. 39

    Left. 14

    Others 68

    Total 142

     

    The opinion poll was conducted by ABP News- Nielsen in 129 constituencies with 29,252 respondents during 4th February to 15th February 2014.

  • CNN-IBN, IBN7 and ETV to work in sync for upcoming elections

    CNN-IBN, IBN7 and ETV to work in sync for upcoming elections

    MUMBAI: With the conclusion of an unremarkable 15th Lok Sabha, the lead-up to the general elections has well and truly begun.

     

    And not just Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi and Arvind ‘Aam Aadmi’ Kejriwal but also their media and publicity machinery and news television channels are part of this unfolding political drama.

     

    With political parties estimated to spend nearly Rs 300 crore on advertisements on television and an additional Rs 400 crore to be pumped in by various brands, according to sources, news channels, especially the Hindi ones, stand to gain a fat load of moolah from election programming.

     

    Indiantelevision.com kicks-off its special weekly series exploring what news channels have in store for 2014 elections, starting with TV18’s English and Hindi channels CNN-IBN and IBN7, respectively.

     

    The network – which recently acquired ETV channels including ETV Uttar Pradesh, ETV Madhya Pradesh, ETV Rajasthan, ETV Bihar and ETV Urdu – is looking to dominate election programming through its national and regional channels.

     

    “Language capabilities play an important role during election time. Our synergy is the widest and now with ETV on board as well, we believe we have an edge,” says CNN-IBN and IBN7 managing editor Vinay Tewari.

     

    “Our programming line-up will also be extensive and will run over several months in order to do full justice to the scale of the upcoming elections. As a network, we take great pride in the quality and depth of our coverage on elections and thus are investing a lot of time and effort in ensuring that our coverage is unmatched. There is always a huge interest in elections, this year, it’s possibly the highest.”

     

    Indeed, shows such as Open Mike and Vinod Dua ka Prashnakaal have already begun showcasing public views and opinions.

     

    Led by editor in chief Rajdeep Sardesai along with Karan Thapar, Vinod Dua, Sanjay Pugalia, Sagarika Ghose, Bhupendra Chaubey, Sandeep Chaudhary, Suhasini Haider and Anubha Bhonsle, the channels will look at broad trends, analyse the importance of regions going to polls and engage in extensive discussions with key experts and political commentators such as Dr. Ramachandra Guha, Swapan Das Gupta, Surjit Bhalla, Kumar Ketkar, Dr. Sanjay Baru, Manini Chatterjee and Prof. Dipankar Gupta.

     

    The key shows include A Billion Votes / Mera Vote Meri Sarkar – 7 RCR Ki Race (Counting day Specials), The Election Tracker / Agar Abhi Chunav Ho Toh, India Decides / Vote India Vote, Kings & Queens, Campaign Trail, Follow the Leader, Chaupal, Election Gyaan with Ram (with noted historian Ramachandra Guha), MP ka Report Card etc.

     

    It is learnt that from the last day of polling till the formation of the government, 100 hours of non-stop programming has been planned. This will only help the network achieve the aimed viewership.

     

    Promotion of these shows will be amplified through a 360 degree campaign that will target key markets including metros and Hindi speaking markets. Print, outdoor, radio and digital will be the focus points.

     

    The creative for the campaign for CNN-IBN and IBN7 is being handled by Everest Brand Solutions. On the digital front, channels will interact with viewers through social media as well as upload content that will be edited due to restrictive on air timing.

     

    Going by TAM data during the last general elections, CNN-IBN was the number one channel (Source: TAM, TG: CS 15+, All India; Period: Wk 16-20 ’09, 16th April, 23rd April, 30th April, 7th May, 13th May & 16th May, 06-2400 hrs) on all polling and counting days whereas IBN7 was amongst the top 3 channels (Source: TAM, Markets: HSM; Period: Wk 20 ’09 (16th May ’09); Time 0600-2400 hrs).

     

    With such a comprehensive strategy, this time round too, the network may stand to be the winner…

  • ABP news Nielson opinion poll- Kaun Banega Pradhanmantri

    ABP news Nielson opinion poll- Kaun Banega Pradhanmantri

    MUMBAI: BJP set to emerge as the single-largest party with the highest-ever score of 210 seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls; Congress to hit the lowest-ever mark with 81 seats: ABP News-Nielsen National Opinion Poll.

    BJP likely to emerge as the largest party with around 210 seats in General Elections in 2014, predicts the opinion poll conducted by ABP News-Nielsen across the nation. Congress likely to suffer a major setback with lowest-ever figure of 81 seats in the 543-seat House. Kejriwal’s AAP predicted to get around 11 seats.

    According to the ABP News-Nielsen national opinion poll, NDA predicted to form the government at the Centre with an overall 226 seats.

    Narendra Modi most preferred PM, widens lead over Rahul Gandhi with 53%

    As per the ABP News-Nielsen national opinion poll, Narendra Modi seems to be the clear choice of people for the position of Prime Minister of India, with 53 per cent respondents voting for him. Rahul Gandhi is the choice of 15% respondents. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal gets a nod from 5 per cent.

     47% respondents do not think that snoopgate allegations against Modi are true

    As per the ABP News-Nielsen national opinion poll, majority (47%) of respondents do not think that the allegations leveled against Narendra Modi regarding illegal surveillance of a young woman are true. 36 per cent respondents feel that the Central government’s decision to probe the snoopgate is not right.

    61% do not want to give another chance to UPA government

    According to the ABP News-Nielsen national opinion poll, there is an anti-incumbent mood with majority (61%) saying that the UPA government should not get another chance. As per the opinion poll conducted across the nation, 43% respondents have rated UPA government performance as ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’ with a mean score of 2.69.

     According to the ABP News-Nielsen national opinion poll, at an overall level, half (52%) of the respondents feel that previous NDA government was better than the present UPA government at the Centre. As per the national opinion poll, 38% respondents have rated PM Manmohan Singh’s performance as ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’, and he has a mean score of 2.85.

    BJP-led NDA will form the government at the Centre in 2014

    As per the ABP News-Nielsen national opinion poll, if elections were held now, at an overall level, half (52%) respondents feel that BJP-led NDA will form the government at the Centre in 2014.

    Price control main reason for voting in 2014 LS polls

    According to the ABP News-Nielsen national opinion poll, BJP is more associated with an image of a party which can reduce Inflation.

    AAP gets awareness but 49 per cent not to vote for the party

    According to the ABP News-Nielsen national opinion poll, little less than two-third (63%) of respondents at an overall level are aware of Aam Aadmi Party. In Delhi almost all (99%) are aware of AAP as expected. But at the same time, 49% respondents saying that they will not vote for AAP. Majority of the respondents feel that it is good to replicate Gujarat development model to other States

    Only 10% welcome RTI, RTE, RTF as right s in UPA tenure

    According to the ABP News-Nielsen national opinion poll, only 10 per cent respondents welcomed the right to education, right to information, right to food has become rights, in UPA tenure. 33 per cent feel that these are political gimmicks to woo people.

     

    According to the ABP News-Nielsen national opinion poll, 58% of the respondents in Gujarat feel that it is good to replicate Gujarat development model to other States.

    In Maharashtra, as per the ABP News-Nielsen national opinion poll, 61% respondents feel that Raj Thackrey should get into an alliance with Shivsena and BJP.

    In Uttar Pradesh, as per the ABP News-Nielsen national opinion poll, Majority (51%) has rated overall performance of Akhilesh Yadav as ‘slightly poor’/’very poor’, and his mean score is 2.43 which is below average. 42% respondents feel that BJP has benefitted the most from the Muzzarfarnagar riots.

    In Bihar, as per the ABP News-Nielsen national opinion poll, according to 72 per cent respondents in Bihar feel that Nitish Kumar committed mistake by snapping ties with BJP.

    In West Bengal, as per the ABP News-Nielsen national opinion poll, almost half (49%) of the respondents surveyed in the state feel that Narendra Modi’s image will help BJP to gain more votes in West Bengal in 2014 general elections.

    The opinion poll was conducted by ABP News-Nielsen across the nation between 28th December, 2013 to 12th January, 2014 with 64,006 respondents. The confidence interval (margin of error) assumed for vote share prediction lies in the ranges of 5%.

  • Congress TV Agenda?

    Congress TV Agenda?

    With elections looming large, the spotlight may be on political parties and their candidates however an unlikely candidate seems to have entered the fray, i.e. television.

    Very quietly, two shows have been launched on two TV channels within the span of one week, bearing an uncanny resemblance to Indias biggest ruling party – the Congress.

    One; Anil Kapoors Indian adaptation of the American espionage series 24, which aired on Colors on 4 October and the other; Desh Ki Beti – Nandini, which premiered on Sony on 7 October.

        
    The desi 24 sees the young scion of a political family, Aditya Singhania played by Neil Bhoopalam, reaching out to the countrys youth a la our very own vice president of the Congress Party, Rahul Gandhi.

    While Desh Ki Beti has a bun-sporting, saree and long sleeve blouse-clad Nandini waving out to the crowd, reminiscent of Indias only woman PM, the late Indira Gandhi.

    Leaving aside similarities; both the shows couldnt have been timed better. North India goes to elections in November while the race for Indias next PM unfolds in the first half of 2014.

    24 will end in approximately three months but the impact is sure to last. That Colors reduced the air time of one of its most popular shows, Comedy Nights with Kapil, to accommodate the series is proof of just how much is riding on the timing. Similarly, Sony prematurely pulled the plug on its earlier week day show Chhanchhan to make way for Nandini, citing low TRPs as reason.

    Social media has been quick to catch the so-called connect between these shows and the ruling party. Heres sampling the kind of comments on Twitter and Facebook: A new show called desh ki beti nandini seems to be funded by congress, daily soap Nandini will subtly glorify pre emergency Indira. Direct editorial control from Rahul Gandhi, waiting for Aditya Singhania the 24 character based on Rahul Gandhi, to take his speech and say phaad ke phenk do, 24 just predicted a Rahul Gandhi victory and so on.

    Makes one wonder whether this is part of the viewers fertile imagination or truly Congress Ka Haath behind these shows…