Front page
With monsoon “fury” wreaking havoc in Mumbai, newspapers are flooded this morning too with reports of bad drainage systems and unrelenting rain in the city. It’s the lead in The Times of India and Hindustan Times.
Both The Indian Express and HT agree on the number of deaths caused: “at least 31”, says the Express, 25 of whom “perished as walls collapsed” across Maharashtra.
TOI and Hindu starkly differ when it comes to the number of deaths and those injured– the former reports that the rains claimed 30 lives and left 100 injured, the latter declares 35 dead and 94 injured. TOI also called it “Mumbai’s worst rain ever since the deluge of 2005.”
The newspapers also use images to reflect the damage wrought by the rains: HT says the rains “pounded” the city on “the heaviest single-day rainfall” that it has seen “in 14 years”. TOI says it has left the city “battered”, and The Hindu declares Mumbai to be “paralysed.”
Hindu is the only newspaper concerned with the “train stations inundated” and details about the trains whose operations have been suspended. TOI ends its report on a horrifying note: “In a chilling throwback to the 2005 rain tragedy, two men, Irfan Khan (38) and Gulshad Shaikh (35), suffocated to death after getting locked inside their SUV that was stuck in deep water in a Malad subway.”
But, what caused these unprecedented rains this time around? Front pages don’t say.
PM’s warning to ‘Vijayvargiya Junior’
For Hindu and Express, the lead is the PM’s “warning” to his BJP colleagues, telling them to make sure their kin “behave”– “PM on Vijayvargiya Junior: No matter whose son, behaviour unacceptable”, (Express).
HT, which gives the story second lead, opens its report like a story: “‘I don’t care whose son he is,’ said Prime Minister Narendra Modi with obvious anger and irritation, referring to…Akash.” It says the PM’s tirade “was at odds with the celebratory mood prevalent when the meeting began”.
Hindu’s “other sources” said the PM stressed “that BJP leaders had toiled hard for generations to bring success to the party, and such arrogance brought it a bad name.”
TOI’s generic headline is, “Modi slams VIP brats, says bad behaviour not on”. It says this “is the second time in recent weeks that the Prime Minister has reacted sharply to the behaviour or comments of party leaders”, the first being Pragya Thakur’s praise of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse.
“Modi had said that while the MPs had offered regret, he would not be able to forgive them from his heart,” says TOI.
Other news
“UP move to add 17 castes in SC list wrong, says minister” (HT) also makes to the front page this morning.
The minister is BJP’s own Union minister for social justice and empowerment Thawarchand Gehlot, who called the move “unconstitutional” and said that “including OBC castes in the list of SCs is the exclusive domain of Parliament.”
“On June 24, the State government directed District Magistrates and Commissioners to issue caste certificates to the 17 OBCs”, informs Hindu. But, the Centre is not pleased. Express says it “disapproved” of the UP govt’s decision, and said it was “not appropriate.”
Cricket: India’s entry into the semi-finals of the World Cup also makes Page 1. Photographs of the happy ‘men in blue’ are accompanied by headlines like “India tames Bangla tigers, book semi” (TOI) and “India seals semi-final berth” (HT).
Opinion
In ‘Shah brings a new perspective’, Hindustan Times argues that Home Minister Amit Shah’s proposal to extend the President’s rule in Jammu and Kashmir opened the forum for wider debates about “its history; its relationship with the Indian Union; violence and terrorism; the alienation in the valley and democratic practice in the state,” among other things.
Shah’s “larger ideological approach” distinguished him from his predecessors as BJP continues to believe in the “integrationist” approach. Secondly, he also held the Congress responsible for the situation in the state. While his points can be countered, the fact remains that he is deeply invested in the Valley and “finding a lasting solution to the Kashmir issue may well be a part of what he sees as his legacy.”
Express: In ‘Coming up Short’, it highlights the chaotic implementation and continuing glitches of the Goods and Service Tax (GST), two years after it was introduced. “There continues to be a chasm between expectations and reality, with revenue collections falling well short of expectations.” The Central GST collection continues to fall shorter than the intended target and runs “well below state GST collections.”
To improve matters, “a new simplified return filing mechanism will be implemented”, which is a welcome change. It will further ease the compliance burden of small firms. E-invoicing will also check evasions and streamline the refund process for exporters.
Prime Time
The rains in Mumbai and a possible communal flare-up in Delhi over an attack on a temple dominated prime time.
CNN-News 18: As the monsoon caused havoc in Mumbai and a wall collapsed, killing 20 people, anchor Zakka Jacob said, “Not one corporator, not one commissioner is held accountable for what happens in Mumbai year after year.”
Advocate Rajiv Panday said, “The locals who allowed that construction, the BMC, anyone who gave permission for the wall, should be charged with homicide.”
Clyde Castro, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) spokesperson, criticised the government saying, “BJP will deny everything just like the mayor of Mumbai denied that there was any water-logging in the city. Which city is he living in?”
NDTV 24×7: On ‘Left, Right, & Centre’, anchor Nidhi Razdan asked Congress’s Milind Deora about his comment on climate change and the mangroves that are being cut down for a bullet train project.
Deora said, “…climate change is a reality…(it) is a real concern as (the mangroves) protect coastal regions from exactly what is happening in Mumbai. However, blaming what happens every year in Mumbai on climate change is not right.”
He then asked, “Can the BMC, or the government, or any authority do something to solve this? Sure, but what are we doing, as a city, to help this?”
Actor Dia Mirza said, “The frequency and intensity of such phenomena is going to increase. Our levels of preparedness must increase as well. We cannot have myopic goals.”
ABP News: Anchor Romana Khan asked, “Why does Mumbai get ready to drown, to swim, every monsoon — who is responsible for all these?”
Shiv Sena’s Vijay Krishnan defended the state government: “Shiv Sena and BJP along with NDRF are trying to help many people, but since this is a natural disaster no one can point fingers at us or BJP.”
NCP’s Nawab Malik sadi BJP and Shiv Sena are being two-faced: “In the 2017 municipal elections, BJP alleged high levels of corruption in Mumbai’s municipal corporation — BJP and Shiv Sena fought separately but today both of them are trying to save each other.”
India Today: The alleged attack on a temple in Delhi’s Chandni Chowk saw the BJP blaming the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
AAP spokesperson Raghav Chadha said, “The situation is very tense. All political parties must refrain from communalising or politicising this incident.”
“Law and order and policing in Delhi is strictly the duty of the Delhi police…they must book not merely those who vandalised the temple, but also those who are creating communal tension around the issue,” he said.
Anchor Preeti Choudhry said the police have arrested three people so why was the BJP, VHP, and Shiv Sena going there and chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram?’
BJP national secretary R.P. Singh responded, “Where else can one chant Jai Shri Ram? It’s a very natural thing.”
He criticised Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for his silence: “It was such a tense situation and he was missing in action.”
Republic Bharat: Anchor Arnab Goswami alleged that the issue became communal after Muslims in the area hurled stones at a nearby temple. He said, “Those people who say Muslims are in danger in new India are not saying anything today after the stone pelting.”
Political analyst and Islamic studies expert Maulana Maksood Kashmi said, “I reject attacks on religious symbols be it Hindu or Muslims, temples or mosques, people should be punished.”
Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s spokesperson Vinod Bansal alleged that a plot has been hatched to “force minority Hindus out of Old Delhi’s Hauz Qazi, a predominantly Muslim area.”
With inputs from Kairvy Grewal, Taran Deol, and Rachel John.