Should the INDI-Alliance thank the news channel and the opinion-pollsters for the small mercies? As it was, the opinion poll was a guessing game and any number could have fit, even “400” for the “BJP alone”, and “511” for the NDA. You see, the mainstream electronic media is fully co-opted to the Modi cause and opinion polls are just another excuse to show loyalty, what is called “Kissing the Ring”.

Media honchos of audio-visual outlets have no spine to their vertebrae. Their sugary silence as well as boisterous bolsters are how they show their reverence to the master, who can never do any wrong. A “historic third straight term” for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and for the BJP-led NDA, said the “mega opinion poll”, overconfidence written all over the verdict.

According to the survey, NDA constituents, other than the BJP, will bag 61 seats. Should the Telugu Desam Party and the Janata Dal-S, and parties like them in the NDA, celebrate? The opinion poll gave the BJP-led NDA a clean sweep in the Hindi heartland. Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Jharkhand. Karnataka, Odisha, West Bengal, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are also generous to the BJP. All the 26 seats of Gujarat fell in Modi’s kitty. Tamil Nadu with 5 and Kerala with 2 debuted.

How much more "fair" can a media house and its mega opinion poll be? Are such opinion polls meant to estimate opinion or are they to shape opinion? “Both” should be the answer. Also, “such opinion polls” help channels and government bolster ties. Ministers such as Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav figure in the invitee lists.

Opinion polls and their close relative, the “media conclave”, work for the greater goodness of the media. For example, the owner-editor of one TV news channel organized a media conclave and both PM Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah were among the invitees, giving the owner-editor ample room to give servility a chance. Easy-going opinion polls ruling in favour of the ruling dispensation are mutually profitable ventures, though their opinions and polls should be taken with a pinch of dubious salt.

The Congress may end up with 49, says this “mega opinion poll”, five more than the party’s historic low of 44 in 2014. It’s as if Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra and Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra were just morning walks for the lakhs who joined in. And the Congress victories in Karnataka and Telangana were flukes. That in Himachal Pradesh as well. The mega opinion poll played on guess and ended up with a guess-estimate. The number ‘49’ sounds like a big fat odd lie.

Ask yourself, why should there be a Modi wave? What has the Modi government done so spectacular for people to vote for the BJP? For a few weeks, there was the Ram Mandir Pran Prathistha wave. Then a make-believe UCC wave, followed by a wave of revulsion over the Sandeshkhali horror and now there’s supposed to be stronger than ever CAA wave. Should it be assumed that these waves, together or singly, lent wings to the Prime Minister’s fascination with the fetching figure ‘370’?

The mega opinion poll has given 105 seats to the INDIA bloc, comprising non-BJP parties including the Congress. ‘Others’ which includes AIADMK, BSP, BRS, BJD, TDP, DMK and YSRCP could secure about 27 seats. And by the way, talking about vote-share, the NDA will net nearly half of the votes cast. This particular survey was held for the period February 12 to March 1 and reportedly accounted for 95% of all Lok Sabha constituencies.

So, here’s the conclusion, opinion polls will be ringing in, fast and furious, no sooner are the dates of the elections announced. The media can’t wait. There’s stiff competition for who is the better and more loyal dispenser of BJP-friendly polls. Modi spoke of “400 paar” and had himself given the number ‘405’, which the mega opinion poll has hiked to ‘411’.

One opinion of the opinion polls is that they provide “valuable insights into the political landscape of India, offering a detailed analysis of voter sentiment and preferences”. If only such was the rosy picture actually. The reality is that the reality cannot be trusted. Opinion polls don’t shoulder responsibility and Prime Minister Narendra Modi likes them too much not to reboot. If the NDA does not get 411, we know whose feet should be held to the fire. The pity is in the Unreal World of Narendra Modi nothing is impossible. (IPA Service)