I was in Delhi for a few days last week to cover, among other issues, the pre-election mood for a few Nepali publications.

Now, it is not as if I am totally unfamiliar with the Indian media scene. We watch Indian news channels here in Kathmandu and know the nature of the beast. I have friends in the Indian TV business who had come to cover Nepal elections last year but ended up reporting on adventure sports despite the huge Maoist win. “Boss, no one is interested in Nepali politics. Rafting will sell,” they had said. And we saw India TV go hysterical when the Maoist government appointed Nepali priests in the Pashupati Temple to replaces the ones from Karnataka – the media induced pressure forced ‘secularists’ like Mulayam Singh and Amar Singh, on a visit to Kathmandu, to force the government to retract and got venom spewing Ram Yatris like L K Advani to make calls to Prachanda to convey his ‘disappointment’.

This week, it was quite a sight to see the crews in action the day the elections were announced. I was at the BJP office media room. Spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad walked in and looked around. He made a short statement, first in Hindi and then in English. “We welcome the election dates. On 16th May, L K Advani will be sworn in as the Prime Minister of the country. UPA has left us with a legacy of insecure India and suffering India.” And in a reference to the Navin Chawla controversy, knowing that the president had rejected the CEC’s recommendation, he said, “We hope the glorious tradition of the EC in the last 19 years as an independent, non-partisan body will continue and they will live up to that legacy.”

All perfectly harmless – full of bluster about their impending victory and a toning down of rhetoric on Chawla.

The real fun begins now. As Prasad ended, a journalist shouted “Sir pahle ham, me first.” Prasad responded from the dais, “Ok, let us do it outside.” As he said it, there was an exodus as all cameramen immediately moved their equipment – all of them trying to get out from a narrow door at the same time.

In the open space next to media hall, Prasad stood in the middle. Cameras took different positions. He began by speaking to Aaj Tak’s journalist who had booked him by shouting in the hall. And guess what he said. Exactly the same stuff that he had put out in the conference a minute ago – the same sentences, the pause at the same spot, the same smirk when declaring Advani as the new PM.

As he finished, one journalist pulled him from one arm and another from the other side. He opted for Times Now which was doing a live studio interview.

Q- What do you have to say about election dates?

A- We welcome it. It has been 5 years and elections had to happen. We are happy with the announcement.

Q- What is the key issue?

A- UPA has left us with the legacy of suffering India and insecure India. People will vote for us this time and L K Advani will be PM on 16 May.

Q- What do you have to say about the President’s appointment of Navin Chawla as next CEC?

A- I do not want to talk about any person. But we hope the EC can live up to the glorious tradition from the days of T N Seshan of being an independent and non partisan body. And everyone, including you Arnab Goswami, has an interest in maintaining that.

Prasad moved to IBN. The same questions and the same answers. At the end, he replaced Arnab Goswami’s name and said, “Everyone, including you Rajdeep Sardesai, has an interest in maintaining the independence of EC.”

That late afternoon, from 4.10 pm to 4.50 pm, Ravi Shankar Prasad spoke to 22 (yes 22), different channels for 2-3 minutes each. He stood in a spot; the channel inserted a microphone and ear connection for the studio; he wrapped up; was pulled away literally; the next channel did a repeat act. The striking thing is not that he managed so many interviews, but he said the same thing endlessly. And the channels were thrilled in just having that, though they already had it on the record from the press conference.

When I walked in for a minute to a room on the side, where the television was on and party workers were switching channels, all the news shows had an ‘exclusive’ flash running below Prasad’s interview. So this was it – it was for that exclusive tag Prasad went through the exercise, reporters hounded and harassed him, and editors from studios pestered the reporters. Exclusive on 22 channels.

And yes, I did manage to get a word with him when he was on his way out to the car ‘to attend a baithak at Advani Ji’s house’, as he put it with that air of self-importance politicians at all levels, in all countries seem to have. For the record, this is what he said when asked about BJP policy on Nepal if it comes to power, “We respect the democratic aspirations of the Nepali people. But we will oppose any attempt to disrupt social, cultural, ethnic, religious, and spiritual ties between India and Nepal.” Translate that to mean, we will not let go of our political and cultural hegemony.

But to be fair, he at least gave a new answer after the 22 exclusives.