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, R. Prasad takes a jibe at the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summoning Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut — a major figure in the camp of CM Uddhav Thackeray — in the midst of the ongoing crisis in Maharashtra politics. A majority of Shiv Sena MLAs, led by Eknath Shinde, have rebelled against their party’s leadership and have been camping in Guwahati, Assam. Raut himself has claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in power at the Centre, used the ED to put pressure on the MLAs to force them to rebel.
Alok Nirantar alludes to the water crisis in Maharashtra as he takes a dig at the rebel MLAs staying at a five-star hotel in flood-ravaged Assam.
Referring to the 47th anniversary of the declaration of the Emergency (25 June 1975), E.P. Unny recalls a famous cartoon (left) drawn by Abu Abraham at the time, mocking then-President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed for pliantly signing a flurry of ordinances issued by Indira Gandhi after the Emergency was instituted. Unny (right) compares this to alleged instances of the use of state power against political opponents today.
Satish Acharya comments on the arrest of Alt News co-founder and fact-checker Mohammed Zubair over a tweet from 2018 that allegedly hurt religious sentiments. Last month, Zubair had drawn attention to controversial remarks about the Prophet Muhammad by then-BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma, leading to an international backlash.
As former Union minister Yashwant Sinha files his nomination as a joint candidate of opposition parties in the upcoming presidential election, to be held on 18 July, Sajith Kumar has a take on opposition unity.