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Newspapers Friday indicate that Maharashtra may get an NCP-Congress-Shiv Sena government after weeks of speculation and negotiations.
The other big news of the day — Jammu and Kashmir administration was asked by the Supreme Court to address “every question” on curbs imposed after the revocation of Article 370.
Maharashtra: The Indian Express’ lead story headline reads “After Sonia green light, Cong & NCP to join Sena-led govt in Maharashtra”; The Times of India calls it the “final lap” and reports “NCP-Cong to talk power-sharing with Sena today”; The Hindu goes a step further and claims the meet has already taken place — “Uddhav meets Pawar; coalition takes shape in Maharashtra” and Hindustan Times simply asserts “Sena, NCP, Congress to stake claim by weekend”.
HT accessed the common minimum programme (CMP) document and claimed that the three parties overcame a “key hurdle” to finalise the draft CMP, the contentious issue of ‘secularism’.
SC on J&K: The Jammu and Kashmir government told Supreme Court that the situation after the scrapping of Article 370 is being “so beautifully handled that even a farmer does not lose a single penny”, reports Hindu. HT writes that the central government, justified its measures before the apex court and said that “instead of being questioned the government should be ‘congratulated’ for effectively handling the situation”.
Pragya Thakur: After the news caused uproar Thursday, Hindu is, surprisingly, the only one to carry a report on the nomination of Malegaon blast accused and BJP MP Pragya Thakur to the consultative committee of Parliament for the Ministry of Defence. Interestingly, it observes that Dr Farooq Abdullah, the detained National Conference MP, is also a member of the committee. TOI gives the story a boxed mention.
Electoral bonds: In an exclusive, Express reports that “electoral bonds with denomination of Rs 1 crore accounted for more than 91 per cent of the Rs 5,896 crore raised in the first eleven of the total twelve phases over which bonds were sold by” the State Bank of India. According to Express, “the dominant use of high value bonds clearly shows that almost the entire money came from the wealthiest section of the society”.
2 lakh booze ban cases in Bihar: The Patna High Court “pulled up” the Bihar government for burdening the judiciary with “more than 2 lakh prohibition-related cases, including nearly 40,000 bail petitions pending with the HC alone”, reports TOI in the lead story on its flap.
Others: HT continues to report on Delhi’s air pollution crisis and notes that a “rare, simultaneous discussion” was held in both the houses in Parliament over the pollution crisis and potential solutions. “Members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha united across party lines to call for long-term action as they rued human and economic costs,” it adds.
Express highlights that the cash reserves of Oil and Natural Corporation Ltd (ONGC), India’s main state-owned oil explorer that accounts for over 60 per cent of the country’s crude oil production, is at a “record low”. The report adds that ONGC’s spending on exploratory wells has almost halved since 2014.
Opinion
The Hindu: The government’s decision to approve disinvestment in five private sector enterprises can be described as an “expedient exit”, writes Hindu. The move to sell the Centre’s entire ownership in BPCL, all of its holding in Shipping Corporation and its stake in CONCOR is an attempt to ensure the actualisation of government’s policy to give priority to select and strategic disinvestment.
However, the “underlying rationale behind this programme remains hazy” as the decision to exit from BPCL, which is a profitable refiner, will now “deprive the government of all upside potential”, it suggests. The government’s decision to carve out and exclude BPCL’s 62 per cent holding in Assam’s Numaligarh refinery would “surely pare the price it could get from a prospective buyer”, it says.
The lack of explanation for the move hints at politics taking precedence over economic interest. Of the disinvestment target of Rs 1.05 lakh crore, only Rs 17,364 crore has been realised so far which will force the Centre to “expedite these sales proposals in double-quick time”.
Hindustan Times: India has moved a step closer to reforming its complicated labour laws, HT writes after the Union Cabinet passed the industrial relations code Wednesday. The code allows companies to hire workers on contract, but ensures that contractual workers are treated on par with permanent ones. The law also puts in place a mechanism for speedier settlement and redressal of labour disputes.
The government’s decision to make fixed-term employment contract a part of the labour law will be welcomed by the industry. Labour reforms are the “crucial second generation reforms needed to boost growth and make it easier to do business in India”, it suggests. This move coupled with corporate tax cuts could attract more domestic as well as foreign companies to invest in India.
Prime Time
A possible government in Maharashtra, finally, inspired several prime time discussions.
India Today asked if the alliance was a compromise or mere pragmatism. On Times Now, Navika Kumar wondered about the opportunism of the political parties and quoted liberally from Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray’s criticism of the Congress. ABP News asked if Shiv Sena and NCP have locked horns over Maharashtra CM’s post — who will be the CM still remains open.
At Republic TV, Arnab Goswami went after Pakistan President Imran Khan on #ImranAdmitsBegging. And Aaj Tak’s Rohit Sardana asked whether West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s vote bank will be affected if NRC is implemented nationally.
NDTV 24×7: On “Left, Right and Centre”, anchor Vishnu Som raised Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement that a new NRC will be conducted throughout the country.
“Isn’t this entire process discriminatory where Muslims have no recourse… while Hindus can be covered with the shield of the Citizenship Amendment Bill?” he asked.
Congress leader and senior lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, “The Citizenship Amendment Bill is absolutely unconstitutional if and when it passes, for the simple reason (that) it is a direct differentiation between you and me on the basis of our religion.”
Writer and activist Farah Naqvi observed that “… what happened in Assam did not pan out the way the BJP wanted” as it did not exclude enough Muslims.
India Today: Anchor Rajdeep Sardesai turned to the controversy over electoral bonds and asked if these made poll funding opaque?
Co-convenor of the National Campaign for People’s Right to Information, Anjali Bhardwaj was critical of the bonds: “… when they go to exercise their vote (citizens) must know where the political party that they are about to vote for, is getting (its) funding from.”
Sardesai questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence: “Should the Prime Minister and government not be replying to the manner in which they have allegedly subverted the whole electoral bond scheme?”
NDTV India: Nidhi Kulpati also led a discussion on NRC. Security expert retired Major General Ashwani Siwach welcomed the move and gave reasons for saying so: “After infiltration, many people moved to other states as well… implementing NRC in Assam will be successful and effective only if other states also follow it.”
Political analyst Sanjeev Tiwari also saw it as a positive move: every Indian has the first right on country’s resources, he argued.
Trinamool Congress’ Anirban Banerjee disagreed, strongly: “People committed suicide because of this… BJP only wants to create panic amongst citizens to distract them from the real electoral issues – ‘Roti, kapda,makaan’.”
Zee News: Anchor Aman Chopra was angry — with Congress and demanded that the party apologises for allegedly not allowing Ram Mandir to be built. This came after Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement at a Jharkhand rally claiming that Congress obstructed plans to build a Ram mandir.
He said people who kept Ram lalla in a tent “should be kept in a tent for 70 days, then they’ll realise what Lord Ram went through…”
Political analyst Nishant Verma was dismissive of the issue: “This is electoral jumlebaazi…”
BJP’s Prem Shukla lauded his party’s role: “One party that has constantly fought for the Ram Mandir since 1989 is BJP, only…those who used to chant ‘Babur-Babur’ are chanting ‘Ram-Ram’ today.”