Media Bias Vs Resilience: The Story Of BJP's Rise In Kerala

Navratri Notes: Asherah, The Hebrew Goddess And The Tree Of Life

Dear Reader,

Today in Navratri Notes, we have a piece on the Hebrew Goddess Asherah.

Aravindan Neelakandan in this piece describes here as follows:

"She was the indwelling Light. She was the Cosmic Tree and the Tree of Life. She was the Serpent of Wisdom. She was the Goddess of the right path; Amidst the tumultuous waves of the dark, She was the Goddess of the ocean. She was the divine sanctuary and the sacred groove."

And from the commentaries on Sri Lalita Sahasranama, we have — 'Random Meditations Through Her 1000 Names (XIV): The Gems In Her Crown'.

Media Bias Vs Resilience: The Story Of BJP's Rise In Kerala

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is witnessing a rise in Kerala despite facing relentless challenges, especially from the state's mainstream media.

The party jumped from just 5% of the vote share in 2009 to nearly 20 per cent in the 2024 Lok Sabha election winning its first Lok Sabha seat in Thrissur, while leading in 11 assembly segments.

Why it matters: One of the BJP's greatest hurdles in Kerala has been how the media consistently portrays the party.

• The biased and often dismissive tone in TV debates, exaggerated or fabricated stories, and even outright mockery have made it difficult for the BJP to gain a fair representation in the public sphere.

Examples are ample: When BJP State President K Surendran was acquitted in the Manjeshwaram bribery case, a leading news channel, Asianet, held a debate without a single BJP representative, focusing solely on Congress' allegations.

• Leaders like Suresh Gopi and Shobha Surendran faced unfair scrutiny and accusations ranging from misbehaviour to attacks on character. They persisted. Surendran even called it out in emotional responses during press conferences.

In some cases, the bias is even more blatant:

• 2018 Sabarimala Protests were initially downplayed by most channels until the right-aligned Janam TV picked up the issue.

• The Syro-Malabar Church's support for Waqf Act amendments also went underreported.

BJP leaders like Kummanam Rajasekharan, PS Sreedharan Pillai, and K Surendran have been subjects of ridicule, including photoshopped images and sarcastic headlines.

Read more: Ravishankar (X: @oru_pavam_nair) in his detailed piece — Media Bias Vs Resilience: The Story Of BJP's Rise In Kerala — expands on how despite all of this, the party's resilience and grassroots support show that it’s here to stay.

Until tomorrow,

Anmol N Jain