Meddlesome Media: Why is the west trying to influence Indian elections?

One media outlet blamed the Election Commission for conducting elections in the middle of a punishing summer month.

Recently, a study titled ‘The Invisible Hands: Foreign interference in Indian Elections 2024,’ which analysed election season reports in the western media, found that there was an “unusual pattern of media coverage trying to shape a particular narrative and influence the voter. Surprisingly, it was coming from French media, specifically, the country’s most influential and widely circulated newspaper, Le Monde.” The study was conducted  by the Belgium-based EU Disinfo Lab.

French political scientist and researcher Christophe Jaffrelot emerges at the centre of this report.  The report said that Le Monde has published several of Jaffrelot's articles with narratives revolving around themes like Rising Islamophobia in India, Stigmatisation of Muslims, Undemocratic Nature of India, Growing Authoritarianism, etc.

There was unusually high interest regarding the Indian elections in the French media, the study notes. Analysing global reports on Indian elections, it was found that France’s most influential and widely circulated newspaper, Le Monde, alone published dozens of articles  on the Indian elections on the above themes.

“The most striking pattern was that op-eds and papers were either written or were based on statements from one particular French political scientist and researcher, Christophe Jaffrelot. It was also observed that Jaffrelot had been the key source for most such articles in other western media and a segment of Indian media,” the EU Disinfo report stated.

“As millions of Indians were deciding their future, a section of the global media and academia was planning a sinister plot to influence their decisions through an orchestrated and well-funded plan. The extent of this influence campaign was not restricted to the western media itself, many Indian conduits were at the forefront of this. Western media tirelessly attacked everything linked to the elections, from institutions to climate — one media outlet blamed the (Indian) Election Commission for conducting polls in the middle of a punishing summer,” the report said.
The Disinfo Lab Report adds that a surprising volume of literature on the caste census was churned out from France, and that the buzz on the caste census was manufactured.

“The buzz on the caste census was a manufactured narrative that was activated on X (formerly, Twitter) for some agenda, and was promoted heavily by the French media,” the report explained.

“There are distinct (traffic) peaks on certain days, which suggests that the buzz around the caste census was manufactured. This was a red flag. As we have observed over the years, there is an SOP (standard operating procedure) for manufactured narratives, and this fits into that,” the report said.

As India’s prominence, not just as the world’s largest democracy, but also as an emerging economic and strategic power increases, it becomes imperative for global media and intellectuals that set the narrative to keep a close watch on the largest democratic event in the world, the report adds.

India’s rise as a regional power and its increasing geo-strategic importance has made the Indian elections an event of global relevance. The outcome of the elections can play a significant role in shaping global dynamics, the report states.