What is, however, amazing is that their impact on public opinion was marginal. On vote counting day, Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) fell woefully short of a majority. The media, especially Hindi language television, went overboard in providing exhaustive coverage of the opening of the Ram Janmabhoomi temple in Ayodhya. In the event, the BJP lost the Lok Sabha seat in the constituency that houses the temple. In Varanasi, the prime minister himself saw his vote share decline. When the Sengol was installed in the new Parliament building, with elaborate religious rituals, there was similar TV coverage. This will help the BJP do well in Tamil Nadu, the political pundits had predicted. The BJP came a cropper in the southern state.