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When media did a Peepli Live around Andhra's special package

  • Last night, Finance minister Arun Jaitley announced that the proposed special package to the truncated AP would be posted on the ministry website on Thursday morning.
  • But the high drama and media circus that went around the anticipation of the announcement was, to put it mildly, hilarious
AP special package circus

A two-day long-hilarious drama act, mostly enacted by electronic media at Andhra Pradesh’s temporary capital Vijayawada and national capital New Delhi ended with an equally comic climax at 11 pm on Wednesday.

 

Finance minister Arun Jaitley announced that the proposed special package to the truncated AP would be posted on the Union ministry website on Thursday morning.

 

In AP media, news mostly takes shape irrespective of its actual content. The political allegiance a particular media group has usually determines the significance of the news.

 

If you are in the media group loyal to the ruling party, any piece of information from the government you are going to present to the world takes the shape of a 'spectacle', to put it in the words of American historian Daniel Boorstin.

 

On the other hand, the opposition media always seek to deconstruct the event to "reveal" the hollowness of the "spectacle."

 

Yesterday, it said what was unfolding in North Block in New Delhi and the CMO in Vijayawada were "high drama" to cover up the two-and-a-half-year-long failure of Naidu's regime.

AP special package circus

 

The "Peepli Live-like" spectacle began on Tuesday evening itself with many pro-government channels setting the Muhurtham for the announcement of the special package to AP on Tuesday at 2.30 in the afternoon. 

 

The leak was embellished with the 'classified information' that CM Chandrababu Naidu would also be present in New Delhi at the time of the historic announcement by Finance Minister Jaitley.

 

Wednesday’s media circus began with the breaking news of a pucca announcement by Jaitley in the afternoon and related analyses, comments and video clippings of Jaitley's and TDP minister Sujana Chowdary's frantic movements in North Block .

 

Every detail of the preparation of package was given to the people from Delhi and Vijayawada in such a manner that seemed like Sujana Chowdary, Jaitley, finance ministry officials and CM Chandrababu Naidu were only involved in gruelling negotiations to strike gold for AP.

 

In between, the breaking news was that Naidu was in a huddle with senior ministers like Acchannaidu, Narayana (first timer), etc. to veto every vague sentence in the draft of the package.

 

The pro-government media tried their best to demonstrate that Naidu was firm on special status rather than yielding to the pressure of the special package and made it clear that he won't fly to New Delhi to participate in the announcement. 

 

On the other side, the anti-government media embarked on a mission to debunk this as another drama only to scuttle the opposition’s attempt to raise the issue in the Assembly on Thursday.

 

At 2.30, when everybody was glued to the TV monitors, there was no announcement. The pro-government media struggled to justify the lapse and discovered a new theme that negotiations were going on and Jaitley’s press conference was expected at 4.30 pm. 

 

After an hour came the news of the postponement of the press conference: that Jaitley would speak to the media at 6.30 pm after getting the PMO’s nod for the package. 

 

Read more: Naidu welcomes Centre's special package for Andhra

 

Much later, they said the Centre was toying with idea of announcing it late at night or tomorrow as the seven-page document was mailed to Naidu in Vijayawada seeking his seal of approval.

 

Then the sensational "breaking news" appeared  on TV screens that Jaitley would brief the media at 8.30 pm. 

 

Sensing something amiss in the drama, some pro-government channels, which went gung-ho on the package, started running the apologetic line "AP ki Topi?"  (Has AP been fooled?).

 

All through the day, the only important news covered apart from "Peepli Live" was the tragic drowning of 12 men in the Tungabhadra river in Karnataka.

 

All channels fed Andhra viewers that the ₹1.5 lakh crore package had been finalised for AP. "And Naidu is still not happy, even though he has welcomed the package," channels announced.

"We are taking four things into consideration to finalise the package: AP Reorganization Act, 2014; the 14th Finance Commission; what was promised by PM Narendra Modi and what was assured by the then PM Manmohan Singh," Jaitley said

The opposition's only channel put up a brave-front to convince the people that the drama was being enacted only to cheat people on special status and tie down the state with a fraudulent special package. But this got drowned in the deafening din created by its rivals.

 

Finally, the much-awaited announcement came at 10.50 pm. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, along with Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu announced that the Centre had decided to give ‘Special Assistance Measures’ that would beget equal benefits the state would have got under special category status.

 

No details were given. Jaitley said the details of the package would be made available in the finance ministry website on Thursday morning.

 

The package would cover everything offered to AP at the time of the passage of the Bifurcation Bill. "We are taking four things into consideration to finalise the package: AP Reorganization Act, 2014; the 14th Finance Commission; what was promised by PM Narendra Modi and what was assured by the then PM Manmohan Singh," Jaitley said, adding that AP was a special state for the NDA government.

 

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