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#KashmirTourRow, Opposition’s protests on prime time, Kulgam attack on Page 1

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Jammu and Kashmir killings, Shiv Sena-BJP’s power tussle in Maharashtra and the deteriorating Delhi air continue to be predominant on the front pages of mainstream newspapers Wednesday. The Indian Express, The Times of India and Hindustan Times focus on the militant attack in Kulgam where five labourers were shot dead. The Hindu chooses the European delegations’ Kashmir visit as its lead.

The launch of the Strategic Partnership Council by India and Saudi Arabia is the other major news of the day on Page 1.

J&K militant attack: HT’s headline reads: “6 labourers killed in J&K on day of EU group’s visit” while Express reports that “5 workers from Bengal killed in south Kashmir terror attack”, TOI says something entirely different: “Terrorists line up migrant labourers in Kulgam, execute 5, leave 1 for dead”. Hindu gives this news a boxed mention.

TOI quotes “official sources” and writes: “the terrorists… abducted six labourers lined them up and opened fire”. All mainstream papers mention that this attack coincided with the EU delegation’ visit to the state in their lead paragraphs.

EU delegation visit: “23 Members of the European Parliament arrived in Kashmir on a two-day visit on Tuesday to assess the ground situation” writes Hindu. It adds: “the Valley observed a complete shutdown and saw a spurt in street protests”.

It also mentions the invite of UK MEP Chris Davies was rescinded after he asked to meet J&K locals without an escort. He is quoted by Hindu as saying: “I am not prepared to be part of a PR stunt for the Modi government”. The news finds a boxed mention in HT and TOI as well.

Hindu takes a deep dive into the NGO that organised this unofficial visit. The invitations reveal that a “prestigious VIP meeting” with PM Modi was promised by “Brussels-based British PIO Madi Sharma”. Sharma sent out the invites which said she runs an NGO called WESTT (Women’s Economic and Social Think Tank). “Her link to the government and to the Prime Minister’s Office are unclear” highlights Hindu and when they attempted to email her, the message bounced back and the page was invalid. TOI also takes a look into Madi Sharma in a box on Page 1.

India-Saudi Arabia: India and Saudi Arabia launched a Strategic Partnership Council “to guide their ties in areas ranging from trade to energy security”, writes HT. TOI highlights the shift “from a purely buyer-seller relationship… towards a closer strategic partnership that will include Saudi investments in downstream oil and gas projects”. Express provides the detail that this is Modi’s “second visit to Saudi Arabia in three-and-a-half years”.

Shiv Sena -BJP: The battle over power sharing continues in Maharashtra. TOI reports that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis “could take oath of office for his second term” despite the “spat” with Shiv Sena. HT writes that both parties have hardened stands, with Fadnavis challenging Sena’s claim of the BJP agreeing to share the CM’s post. Hindu also adds Fadnavis’ claim that the Sena wasn’t promised the top post “when the alliance was formalised”.

Others: “A thick smoky haze smothers the national capital… as air pollution breached ‘severe’ levels for the first time this season” writes HT in its lead. After reporting a “clean Diwali” Tuesday, TOI reports that a “toxic smog enveloped Delhi-NCR as pollutants from firecrackers, local sources and farm fires were trapped due to low wind speeds”.

The appointment of Sharad Arvind Bobde as the next Chief Justice of India also made it to Page 1. TOI and Express feature a photograph of the CJI designate while Hindu carries a small report. HT chooses not to carry the news on Page 1.

Opinion

The Hindu: The “bargaining for power-sharing” between the BJP and Shiv Sena in Maharashtra is stalling government formation, writes Hindu. While the BJP has entered a post-poll alliance in Haryana with regional party JJP, it is unable to reach an agreement with Shiv Sena, its “oldest ally”. Meanwhile, Devendra Fadnavis have shutdown Shiva Sena’s demand for the chief ministerial position after two and a half years by declaring that he will assume the position for the full five-year tenure. The Sena is trying to get the best bargain, but the “brinkmanship” will probably not lead to a separation between the parties.

Hindustan Times: The government’s decision of setting up a committee to strategise how to “alleviate financial stress” for India’s telecom companies (telcos) is “welcome”, writes HT. A recent report indicates that the total debt of the top three telcos – Airtel, Vodafone and Reliance Jio – is nearly Rs. 3.9 lakh crore for 2018-2019. This could be partially attributed to Jio’s “unnaturally low pricing”, which has “eroded” market share of other companies and forced them to lower tariffs. The recent Supreme Court ruling, which has resulted in 15 telcos having to pay the government around Rs 92,000 crore, has “thrown telcos in a tizzy”. The danger is that Jio could become a monopoly. Monopolies are “rarely good for consumers”, the government should remember that, writes HT.

Prime Time

The EU delegation’s “guaranteed” access to PM Modi and Kashmir were the biggest topics of debate on Prime Time. While Navika Kumar discussed the #KashmirTourRow on Times Now, Rajdeep Sardesai questioned why Indian MPs were not allowed to visit Kashmir but an EU delegation was.

NDTV 24×7: On ‘Reality Check’, Sreenivasan Jain said the EU delegates’ visit “was shrouded in controversy”.

NDTV also accessed the email that was sent by the trip’s organiser – Madi Sharma.

Former diplomat K.C. Singh was not impressed. “The problem with the current arrangement is that it is a magic show where all the strings are showing and the puppets have fallen down. It’s very very badly done…here you’re not giving access to your own parliamentarians but marketing it to these unsavoury characters.”

“Today there has been an attack on a school in Pulwama, where a board examination was going on and five children were trapped. Why is no one speaking about it?” asked RSS supporter Geeta Bhatt.

Republic TV: #FreebiesForVotes was the topic of discussion after the Arvind Kejriwal government in Delhi announced free bus rides for women, but panelists were skeptical.

Nighat Abbas, political analyst, said, “I think Arvind Kejriwal has not started with freebies but literally fakebies because now all of a sudden after five years he’s concerned about Delhi and the safety of women.”

Pradeep Bhandari, psephologist and founder of ‘Jan Ki Baat’, said, “Even Raghuram Rajan said that nothing comes for free, so if this is for ‘free’, who is paying for it?”

Republic Bharat: Anchor Aishwarya Kapoor criticised the Opposition for condemning the visit of European Union delegates saying the former has become ‘Pakistan’s voice’.

All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen’s (AIMIM) national spokesperson Asim Waqar disagreed: “First of all, it was not an official visit. This was an NGO funded picnic tour. The government did not allow our own MPs to visit the Valley and got on board these islamophobic group.”

Journalist Rameez Makhdoomi accused the government of spending taxpayers’ money for this event. “In Gandhi’s country, leaders from Poland who loved Hitler, are now being welcomed.”

Aaj Tak: Aaj Tak discussed the possible equation of the formation of government in Maharashtra.

BJP’s Sudhanshu Trivedi remained confident: “BJP-Shiv Sena alliance is one of the oldest alliances in the history of politics…we first won the municipal corporation elections in 1989-90. Everything will eventually work out.”

Congress’ Charan Singh Sapra pointed out that the alliance still hadn’t decided how the government would be formed: “The common people are suffering due to the delay.”

Shiv Sena’s Vijay Krishnan called the alliance a “divine” one. “BJP has got seats in the state also because of the blessings of Bala Saheb Thackeray. The 50:50 formula is simply a ‘Guru Dakshina’.”

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