The selected cartoons appeared first in other publications, either in print or online, or on social media, and are credited appropriately.
In today’s featured cartoon, Alok Nirantar plays on two meanings of the word antaratma (‘conscience’ and ‘soul’) while hinting at speculation that Bihar CM Nitish Kumar is aiming for the prime minister’s post as the opposition’s candidate in the 2024 general election. This came after Kumar abandoned his alliance with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and formed a new government with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and other opposition parties.
R. Prasad comments on Nitish Kumar’s history of changing political alliances, which have included tie-ups and fallings-out with RJD patriarch Lalu Prasad Yadav. Nitish’s Janata Dal (United) had formed a government in alliance with the RJD in 2015, but walked out of the coalition and formed a government with the BJP in 2017.
Sandeep Adhwaryu also takes a jibe at Nitish Kumar, who has been governing Bihar almost continuously since 2005, save for a brief interruption in 2014-2015.
Kirtish Bhatt also alludes to the new JD(U)-RJD alliance in Bihar, saying that the “pole” might change but the “flag” remains the same — again referring to Nitish’s penchant for changing alliances while remaining CM.
Sajith Kumar comments on reports of customers at a fair price shop in Haryana allegedly having been forced to buy the national flag for Rs 20 in order to get their rations. The state government has taken action against the shop, while the Union government has said that buying a flag as part of its Har Ghar Tiranga (tricolour in every home) campaign is “purely voluntary”.