I know, tehelka means 'sensation'. But if you think we journalists are having a sensational experience covering this drama, you are wrong. You see, it isn't the media that's calling the shots anymore. It's media-savvy politicians. And the sad thing is that we journalists have not even realised it. Having fooled ourselves that we are at the helm, we fail to see the way we are being taken for a ride. For a proof, take a look at the chain of events. Whether it is Star or Zee television, or any of the mainstream newspapers, the faces that appear to defend the government are the same: Pramod Mahajan, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley. These are the trouble-shooters of the party, men and women who know the media probably better than the media itself. And they are doing a crafty job. The Congress, for its part, was late to "plant camera-savvy people" in the studios. And the result can be seen in the way they have failed to capitalise on a magnificent opportunity. Years earlier, when that party was in the dock over Bofors and assorted other scams, it was people like George Fernandes who fed us journalists, who set us on the Congress' heels. They ruled us then and they rule us now -- even with their backs against the wall. Journalists go for good 'sound bites'. Mahajan and gang give them plenty, but not Sonia Gandhi. While I was interviewing a Bharatiya Janata Party Cabinet minister at his residence, he received a call from the prime minister's press advisor, Ashok Tandon. After pleasantries, the conversation went thus: "Please try to understand my problem. Last evening I was on Star TV, this morning on Zee. I also appeared on Aaj Tak yesterday. "There are many leaders besides me but they are observing silence. It's three days now since the scandal, but I haven't seen Sushma Swaraj in any studio. Ask her to give her services to the party." Before I returned to Bombay, Swaraj was back in circulation! In a white silk sari and red bindi she was defending the almost indefensible act of BJP president Bangaru Laxman. And the Congress? Well, there was Ambika Soni available. But against the Swarajs and Mahajans, she is no match. Another one who knows how to use the press to good effect is Trinamul Congress chief Mamta Banerjee. Her conduct, in fact, is an example of how instead of the press hounding politicians, it is the other way around. Janta ki leader Mamta, like the true autocrat she is, decides when to speak, what, and to whom. On March 16, some seven camera crews and 20 mediamen waited outside her residence for four hours to know what would happen to her ties with the BJP. But since she wanted to review her position, she refused to speak a word. And it's not funny when TV cameramen crowd the politician and let her/him take the lead, instead of shooting questions. When she resigned, she made sure that her encounter with the press worked to her advantage. She had planned it all out so that we went where she led. She knows the average journalist's mentality well, remember? There were no difficult questions, not even anything about why she was joining hands with the JMM -- she came, she spoke, she got the mileage she wanted, and she left! Rather, I should say that the media let her do all that. When a politician asks 'Ab shuru kare?' he is preparing to dominate the camera. What you get on the telly is unreal politics, reel politics. The politics that men in positions choose to show us. Real politics is not for the camera; we rarely get to see it. Normally in Delhi, any press show -- yes, I use the word 'show' deliberately -- that a politician arranges goes something like this. First we get a formal invitation. Or the word is spread that someone is resigning or someone might say something. Scores of pressmen reach the venue before time. Photographers and camera crews iron out where each will stand. And then, much later than scheduled, the neta will make his entry. After resigning, George Fernandes avoided going home since there were some 50 mediamen waiting for him there. It was 2130 hours IST. What he wanted to say he had already said on Doordarshan -- so why run the risk of questions? But since the media was present, Arun Jaitley, Venkaiah Naidu and Narendra Modi "appeared " before the camera to "send the right message". The NDA, they said, backed Fernandes fully and believed in his integrity. Obviously someone had send the spokesmen to create the morrow's bulletin. And sure enough, the next day the three BJP leaders' spirited defence was headlined. In all this, the savvy politicians make sure that it is they who set the agenda. They leave no room for any embarrassing questions, just have their say and vanish. Since Sonia Gandhi is incapable of looking the press in the eye, leave alone utilising it, the country has lost an opportunity to question the accused NDA leaders. And it is for this reason that I fear that the tehelka.com campaign will fail -- this and the fact that the media lets itself led around by the nose. Sheela Bhat has been a news-hound for the past two decades. Tell us what you think of this diary
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