Front Page
The political drama in Maharashtra fills the front pages of mainstream newspapers Monday for the fourth week in a row with the focus on two aspects of the political drama: the Supreme Court hearing of a Congress, Shiv Sena and Sharad Pawar-led NCP a plea Court asking for a floor test of the Devendra Fadnavis government which the SC postponed to this morning.
The other was the numbers game in Mumbai with both sides claiming to have a majority of MLAs.
In absence of other major developments, the Indian cricket team’s comprehensive defeat of Bangladesh in their first ever Day-Night Test match in Kolkata Sunday made it to page 1. This was India’s seventh Test victory in a row, “it’s longest-ever streak in the format” (The Hindu). It is also the first team in the world to post four consecutive innings victories in Tests (The Times of India).
Maharashtra political drama in SC: The Indian Express’ lead headline reads, “Mumbai swearing-in: To test spirit, Supreme Court asks for letters today” while TOI is more forceful with “Produce Ajit & Fadnavis’s letters by 10.30am, says SC, refuses more time”. A photograph of Shiv Sena’s Aaditya Thackeray, Sanjay Raut and NCP’s Supriya Sule and Rohit Pawar — a possible effort to show a united front — accompanies the report.
Hindustan Times and The Hindu play it straight: “Supreme Court asks Centre for papers on govt formation” (HT) and “Floor test plea: SC wants Governor’s order, Fadnavis letter” (Hindu). Express in its ‘Explained’ box writes that this was “a test of due process”.
In an accompanying report, HT writes that “a turf war in the Nationalist Congress Party’s family spilled over into social media as three opposition parties fought to keep their flock of legislators united”. Hindu notes that 46 of the 54 NCP MLAs said they remained with Sharad Pawar.
Land acquisition: HT’s second lead is on how the Niti Aayog claims that “the current land acquisition law has made building roads costlier and more time-consuming”. It also provides the detail that the land acquisition law was implemented by the UPA government “following protests from farmer groups and the then opposition parties led by the Bharatiya Janata Party”.
Prohibition soon in Andhra Pradesh: The AP government “cancelled the existing licences of all the 798 bars in the state and announced a new policy which includes a sharp hike in the fees for obtaining a bar licence”, reports Express. This move comes in the wake of a series of other measures that “is in line with the government’s commitment to implementing total prohibition next year”.
NSO survey on Swachh Bharat: Hindu reports that the latest NSO survey “debunked the claims of an open defecation-free or ODF India made by the Centre’s flagship Swachh Bharat scheme, although it did record great progress in toilet access and use in rural areas”.
The results showed that “about 71% of rural households had access to toilets at a time when the Centre was claiming 95% had access”.
Opinion
The Times of India: Sharad Pawar family’s internal tussle gave BJP the opening in Maharashtra, says the newspaper in ‘Overnight Coup’. The Saturday morning “hush-hush swearing in ceremony” raises the concern on whether the numbers are enough to form a government, but BJP can claim to have taken the initiative when Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP combine talks were stretched. TOI recalls how Sharad Pawar did not show enthusiasm in defending his nephew in the ED money laundering case before the elections, and Ajit Pawar “enacted a resignation drama only to reverse the decision”, it says.
Sharad Pawar has kept the ambitions of others from NCP under check while grooming his daughter Supriya Sule. BJP might have exploited that, it suggests. The mandate was for BJP-Shiv Sena alliance, but “realignments have paved way for political instability”. The Supreme Court will let us know the “winners and losers of this round shortly”, it concludes.
The Hindu condemns the BJP’s desperate attempt to form a government more strongly and calls it an “outright mockery of democratic norms and established procedure”. BJP’s new “low” leaves the nation’s political conscience with a “sinking feeling”, it says. The President, Prime Minister and Governor all appear to be collaborators in “a clandestine, nocturnal scheme” rather than being the guardians of the constitutional order. It demands that the legitimacy of the Fadnavis government should be tested at least once. The Governor administered the oath to the same person who had earlier declined the invitation to form a government.
In a rare situation, the Supreme Court heard the petition on a Sunday and it has called for records to he submitted Monday. If the BJP is so confident of numbers, it should submit itself to a floor test immediately, it suggests.
Prime Time
Barring a break to listen to the Prime Minister’s “Mann Ki Baat”, Sunday was all about “Maha political blockbuster” (Times Now, Republic TV) or “Maha political thriller” (Mirror Now).
Broadcast news had been caught napping by the early Saturday morning swearing-in of BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis and NCP’s Ajit Pawar as chief minister and deputy chief minister, respectively. So on Sunday, the big guns were in the studio for the Supreme Court hearing on a NCP-Shiv-Sena-Congress petition.
They provided detailed coverage of the hearing and gave viewers every possible political outcome to the “Maha Pawar Twist” (India Today).
Times Now saw Rahul Shivshankar and Navika Kumar report on “#Supreme Suspense”. “Those who previously exercised their wits will now, perhaps, have to exercise their whips,” Shivshankar quipped.
When the Supreme Court postponed the hearing for Monday morning, he interrupted the debate — “Okay, we’re going to close up on the faces of Congress leaders now. I want to see their faces.”
On CNN-News18’s “Maha Masterstroke”, Anand Narsimhan asked a relevant question: “Should the governor only be concerned about what is put in front of him and not what happens outside the Raj Bhavan?”
On NDTV 24×7, Sarah Jacob recalled the horse trading that plagued Karnataka earlier this year — “Why are we getting a feeling of deja-vu? It should be a case of once bitten, twice shy!”
Aaj Tak’s Rohit Sardana questioned all the political parties: “Can political parties do whatever they want? How much leeway are we giving them?”
India TV focused on the Pawar parivar problems in, “Chacha Bhatije par bhaari” while ABP was much nastier — “Bhatija dagabaaz re…” (the disloyal nephew) is how it described Ajit Pawar.
Sunday evening on India Today, anchor Rajdeep Sardesai appeared to defend Maharashtra’s governor’s actions: “What else was the governor supposed to do? If you don’t go to the governor and the other side goes first, he who goes first gets the benefit.”
On “The Newshour” (Times Now) with Athar Khan, BJP’s G.V.L. Narasimha Rao was confident of a BJP government: “The numbers (of MLAs) have to be exhibited in the assembly, not in press conferences or 5-star hotels…”
Journalist Sanjeev Srivastava said, “They (BJP & Shiv Sena) have gone too far apart… There is no face saver for Uddhav (Thackeray). Same for Sharad Pawar… But never say never — anything can happen in politics.”
Khan agreed: “It’s not over until the fat lady sings.”
CNN-News18: On “#MahaPoliticalTwist”, anchor Maha Siddiqui was sardonic: “Ajit Pawar took more than 30 hours to update his Twitter bio to ‘Deputy CM of Maharashtra’,” she commented.
When Mukul Rohatgi, advocate representing the BJP and other independent MLAs, said the SC should wait at least three days before delivering a verdict, reporter Marya Shakil said he was “buying time” for the party, and “stonewall the proceedings”.
Lawyer K.V. Dhananjay was equally cutting: “What they (the Centre) did in the last two days, is as bizarre as it could get.”
Zee News discussed “#FloorTestPoliticsFail” on “Taal Thok Ke”. Anchor Aditi Tyagi asked, “Maharashtra mein bahumat ka baahubali kaun?”
Shiv Sena’s Vikram Singh Yadav claimed the support of more than 145 MLAs. “We have the majority number…what else is left?” he said.
Political analyst Shubhransh Rai was more grandiose: BJP’s dream of ruling Maharashtra will be shattered tomorrow after Supreme Court’s ruling, he claimed.
BJP’s R.P. Singh believed otherwise: “Tomorrow when the decision comes, it will be in favour of BJP,” he claimed.
With inputs from Simrin Sirur and Taran Deol