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Maharashtra finally has a chief minister — mainstream newspapers Friday lead with Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray’s swearing-in as the state’s 19th CM along with six cabinet ministers.
In other news, BJP MP Pragya Thakur was barred by the party from attending any parliamentary party meeting and dropped from the defence consultative committee after her comments on Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse in the Lok Sabha.
Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray: The Times of India carries a pointed headline — “1st Thackeray to be CM, of ‘Secular’ Govt”. In the strap it highlights the unusual nature of the Congress-Shiv Sena-NCP alliance and questions, “Is the tiger changing its stripes and going soft on Hindutva?”“For a party that has in the past supported the removal ‘secular’ from the Constitution and praised Godse, Shiv Sena’s common agenda with NCP-Cong begins with a commitment to ‘uphold secular values enshrined in the Constitution,” writes TOI.
Hindustan Times notes that Thackeray took oath on the same spot, Mumbai’s Shivaji Park, where his father Bal Thackeray founded the party in 1966. The Hindu provides the detail that Bal Thackeray was also cremated in the “iconic” park. In an accompanying report, The Indian Express reports that the alliance’s common minimum programme (CMP) “talks about immediate loan waiver to Maharashtra’s farmers, [and] a new law to ensure 80 per cent reservation in jobs for locals”.
Pragya Thakur: Hindu writes that in “damage control mode”, BJP “announced the disciplinary action” against Thakur. Express says the Opposition “dismissed” the action as “too little too late” and is “planning to bring a censure motion” against Thakur. TOI adds that Thakur’s clarifications about the comments “did not cut ice with the opposition”.
Pegasus Snoop: HT writes that during the Rajya Sabha discussion on the WhatsApp snooping controversy Thursday, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad responded to most follow up questions by citing the cause of national security. Express reports on the same in a more blunt fashion, saying “Govt ducks query on buying Pegasus” and details how Prasad was “faced with a barrage of questions” on the controversy.
West Bengal bypolls: “Trinamool sweeps W Bengal bypolls, takes a dig at BJP”, HT’s headline notes. Express takes it a notch further and writes that the win is a “Verdict against NRC, says Mamata”, adding that “two of the BJP candidates blamed a ‘scare’ over NRC”. It adds that for Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee the win is a “vote against the BJP’s arrogance”.
Hyderabad rape case: Most newspapers report the horrific rape and murder of a 27-year-old woman in Hyderabad, but focus on differing details in their headlines. Hindu says, “Woman vet killed, set afire in Telangana”. Express adds context with “Stranded after flat tyre, Hyderabad vet raped and murdered”. HT breaks convention of focusing on the victim and places emphasis on the perpetrator — “Man arrested for raping, murdering Telangana woman”.
Google phishing: Hindu reports that “Google sent over 12,000 warnings to users globally, including about 500 in India… alerting them to ‘government-backed’ phishing attempts against them”. Google said that these groups have many goals “including intelligence collection, stealing of intellectual property… destructive cyberattacks or spreading coordinated disinformation”.
Opinion
Hindustan Times: With Pragya Thakur’s remarks on Nathuram Godse creating another controversy, HT writes that the BJP MP’s “repeated glorification of… Godse is unacceptable”. It argues that the BJP’s first mistake was giving her a ticket and the second was when the ticket was not revoked for her comments on Godse and 26/11 martyr Hemant Karkare. HT writes that the party is “making a third mistake, for no degree of condemnation is enough” and “the only way out is… by expelling Ms Thakur from the party”. HT concludes by saying that “the loss of one MP will not matter to the BJP’s arithmetic” but it will help the party “walk the talk” on its commitment to Gandhi.
The Times of India: In “Transparency Needed”, TOI argues that the anonymous nature of electoral bonds “tilt the field in favour of the ruling party of the day” given the “weak institutional checks and balances in India”. It notes that the anonymity of the donor applies only from the voter’s perspective and not the government and therefore the argument that secrecy allows companies to donate without fear of retribution is rendered suspect. TOI writes that even the Reserve Bank of India and Election Commission were “worried about the implications of inherent secrecy”. It adds that the government also cleared the path to foreign funding at the same time. According to TOI, this combined with electoral bonds pose a “danger to sovereignty in decision-making”.
Prime time
“Thackeray Sarkar” (NDTV 24×7) vied with “#PragyaPolitcalWar” (Times Now) for prime position on the TV debates news — and both received equal prominence.
Republic TV debated “#UddhavCM” and the Maha Vikas Aghadi common minimum programme (CMP). On India Today, BJP’s Sambit Patra and NCP’s Clyde Crasto got into a heated argument over the CMP.
Aaj Tak asked, “Has Uddhav Thackeray become secular?” and ABP News hailed a Thackeray regime in Maharashtra “after 20 years”. Republic Bharat said, “Maharashtra mein Uddhav ka ‘uday’ (the rise of Uddhav in Maharashtra)”.
Times Now: On “The Newshour”, anchor Navika Kumar questioned the hypocrisy of the Congress for castigating BJP for Pragya Thakur’s remarks on Godse, calling him a patriot when its alliance partner Uddhav Thackeray referred to Godse as a staunch patriot in a Saamana editorial in 2013.
Kumar remarked sarcastically to BJP spokesperson G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, “You have an option — send Pragya Thakur to the secular alliance, she will become clean and come back to you.”
Rao said, “Let Uddhav Thackeray give an interview to Saamana and apologise for the comments he made in the past for Godse.”
Political analyst Tehseen Poonawalla argued that, “Uddhav Thackeray did not hold any Constitutional post but Sadhvi Pragya does. She is a member of Parliament.”
CNN-News18: On the “#Right Stand”, anchor Anand Narasimhan scolded panelists like a school teacher over Thakur’s remarks.
He asked BJP spokesperson Narendra Taneja — “…from May 2019 to December 2019 what action have you taken against Pragya Thakur?”
Taneja replied, “(This time) Within 24 hours she was removed from the defence committee panel…”
Narasimhan interrupted him, “What was she doing there in the first place?”
To Ajay Gautam, founder of Hum Hindu which supports Thakur, the anchor said, “She (Pragya Thakur) should not be sitting in Parliament and should go back to jail if she wants to make such comments.”
Zee News demanded Thakur be expelled from BJP in “#PragyaBJPSeBaharKab”.
BJP’s Sudhanshu Trivedi tried to turn the issue on its head: “Godse killed Gandhi, I agree, but the Gandhi family has killed Mahatma Gandhi’s ideas.”
All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen’s Syed Asim Waqar drew similarities between Pragya Thakur and Nathuram Godse: “Both are criminals, charged with murder…”
Communist Party of India’s Ameer Haider Zaidi said, “It is not about a person killing another person, it is about an idea killing another idea. Expelling Pragya Thakur alone won’t do… We will have to discard this ideology.”
India TV: “Thackeray Yug ki Shuruaat” welcomed Uddhav Thackeray as Maharashtra CM.
“Now Congress’ leaders will chant ‘Jai Shivaji Jai Bhawani’ and ‘Hand’ (Congress’ election symbol) will be pasted on the ‘Bhagwa’ flag now,” commented BJP’s Shahnawaz Hussain with telling irony.
Congress’s Ranjeet Ranjan tartly replied that BJP should focus on introspection rather than make fun of other parties. “Just wait and watch how the Jharkhand polls’ results will be another lesson for BJP,” she warned.
Shiv Sena’s Mahesh Tiwari was too overwhelmed to say much: “This joyous occasion has arrived after many struggles.”