Disagree. The entire slew of articles against the LCA have used Modi's make in India program to criticise the government for this decision. You made out a view that this was the internal resolution of the differences within the IAF & had nothing to do with the government. In which case the media was guilty of blaming Modi wrongly & which might suggest they are indeed deserving of the term used for them.
Not only this thread, the whole discourse is sickening because everyone brings in their own axes while pretending that the axes are all with the guys in political opposition to their own views.
Let us take it in sequence.
It is not a secret to you or to me or to any of us that there was serious heartburn on both sides of the procurement divide.
The developers felt that the air force kept sticking on one stipulation after another, almost suspiciously as if they really did not trust Indian know-how and technology, and that there was no way of achieving hits against this kind of moving target.
The air force felt that unless the finally developed aircraft were to be battle-worthy in the real world, as it was inducted with complete adherence to procedure, just like any other aircraft entering service, no matter what the pedigree and antecedents of that lucky aircraft.
You will recall that there were continued jerks and stops in the previously smooth programme due to the failure of the LCA to achieve certain deadlines in time.
On top of everything else, it is not a secret that there were opposing points of view on the aircraft types to be inducted. The original view in the air force strongly favoured best of breed approach, with air superiority, interception, long range and strategic strike and combat air support, both close range and long range, represented differently. However, Mirage pilots were a very strong community and they were ultimately the victors, due to the unanswerable economic arguments for maintaining one well-made aircraft type for all missions. It must be remembered that the multi-role role, as it were, forced certain compromises on to the aircraft, and these compromises were recognised, understood and evaluated with care.
I strongly disagree that the Make in India programme had any influence on the decision to procure larger numbers of the Tejas. That was a decision in the pipeline, and it was based on the contingency that the aircraft would go through its advanced trials successfully; also, it was Plan B, in spite of Arjun Raha denying that there was, or is, a Plan B. Plan B does not signify an exclusive step, it signifies an extension of the window to allow more time for the Rafale decision to be frozen and bounded, while taking advantage of an existing option and broadening its scope to cover the missing numbers at the crucial time. All this against the option of the inevitable drainage of power due to retirement of the MiG 21.
So was it the fault of the media that they picked up the phrase Make in India and went to town on it? I think if you argue that, as you have done, you are effectively eating your cake and having it too. Was it the media which created the hype about the programme? Was it not the shrill, over-confident voices of the propagandist element in the current ruling dispensation that shoved it down the throat of everybody, including the media? Having done that, why blame the media for extracting this triumphal announcement from it oesophagus and getting querulous about it? I could go on, but I believe that this states the case for the media and against the Modi fairly and fully.