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 highlights Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati’s absence from election campaigning for the UP assembly polls. Nirantar shows a sleeping Mayawati cradled by the trunk of the BSP’s symbol elephant, as competitors Yogi Adityanath of the BJP, Akhilesh Yadav of the SP and a trailing Priyanka Gandhi Vadra of the Congress race past her.
E.P. Unny juxtaposes the Modi government’s scrapping of Article 370 in Jammu & Kashmir in 2019 with the draft proposal of the Delimitation Commission that suggested adding six new assembly seats in the Jammu region and only one in Kashmir. The cartoonist puns on Kashmir’s legendary status as ‘paradise on Earth’ and invokes John Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost’ and its sequel ‘Paradise Regained’.
Satish Acharya shows Congress leader and former student activist Kanhaiya Kumar cutting the umbilical cord with fellow JNU alumnus Umar Khalid after dodging questions about him. When a reporter said Khalid has been his friend in the past, Kumar retorted: “Who told you so?”
As the Indian rupee is expected to conclude 2021 as Asia’s worst-performing currency, Sajith Kumar shows one parliamentarian telling another that it is an ideal time to prepare for ‘whataboutery’ — a handy tool to counter the inevitable accusations.
Kirtish Bhatt has two passengers irritated at the WHO’s appeal to curtail holidays amid Omicron fears, as they dare health authorities to ban politicians’ rallies instead.