Reading a piece by a senior editor that:

a) takes Modi's popularity as a given
b) acknowledges worrying slide in rankings for India, from human development to freedom
c) fails to see that the popularity = a gift from a mainstream media that never questions/ criticises the PM.

Also gets me that much of mainstream media post-2014 assumes that concern over diminishing freedoms, falling human development indexes etc is part of the liberal agenda.
It's not. These are basic and fundamental issues, should be reported regardless of ruling party at the Centre.

To make this even simpler: if the mainstream media had reported more often on the PM's performance in govt rather than on his aura or his sharp election strategy — stellar, but not the same as running a country — his popularity might have been about the same as previous PMs.