Front Page
The front pages Friday showcase Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s majestic six kilometre roadshow in Varanasi.
Photographs of Modi in a sea of humanity adorn page 1 — The Times of India’s three column long photo frames the ‘Ganga aarti’ scene.
Even pink newspapers like Business Standard are sufficiently impressed to wax eloquent on page 1: in “New-look Varanasi greets Modi…” BS says the rally proves two things: “development sells” for “electoral victory” and with an “able team” you can “deliver development” even in a city with decrepit infrastructure like Varanasi. Every “chajja”, road, market “was crammed with people” and puts police’s rally estimates at 600,000 — it was 50,000 in 2014.
Hindustan Times echoes this. “In home constituency, PM’s show of strength” says the “spectacular” six kilometer roadshow was attended by “tens of thousands” who showered rose petals on “Modi’s cavalcade”.
TOI says Modi’s “7-km roadshow…” attracted “a massive surging crowd”. Later, Modi spoke of Varanasi’s development and “national security” at a city meeting. In a separate item, TOI observes, “Suspense ends: it won’t be a Modi-Priyanka contest”. “Tame end,” it adds.
The Indian Express leads with the address to “party leaders and eminent citizens at a city hotel” where “PM points to Lanka: Prosperity means nothing if no security”.
The Hindu, alone, restricts coverage to a photograph with the underwhelming caption: “Touching base.”
Supreme Court sexual harassment case: Today’s lead story, across newspapers, is the development in the sexual harassment allegations against Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi: SC appoints Justice A.K. Patnaik to “probe” claims of “conspiracy against CJI” (Express) and Justice Indu Malhotra replacing Justice N.V. Ramana on the internal committee investigating the sexual harassment case.
HT reports both together in “Conspiracy against CJI to be probed by ex-judge”. It points out that Justice Malhotra is also a member of SC’s gender sensitization and internal complaints committee. “Ramana’s exit came a day after the former SC staffer” raised concerns of his “close” friendship with the CJI.
TOI highlights that the probe into the conspiracy charges will not interfere with the “separate” inquiry into the sexual harassment case. In its second report, “Ramana trashes woman’s charges, but quits panel”, it simply states that Ramana opts out without elaborating why he “trashes” the complainant’s allegations.
Hindu quotes extensively from Justice Ramana’s remarks on his recusal (“Justice Ramana quits Bobde probe panel”). In its other lead, it focuses on, “The Bench repeatedly clarified that the probe” would not “eclipse” the sexual harassment allegations.
Express, as is its wont, is different: it gives banner headlines to “After complainant raises concerns, Justice Ramana opts out, Malhotra in” and second place to “Retd judge to probe claim of conspiracy against CJI”. It also quotes extensively from Ramana’s remarks on page 2.
Hindu gives lead status to an entirely separate SC hearing: “CJI tears into Assam move on detenus”, says he “lashed out” at the state government’s proposal to “conditionally release and monitor declared foreigners languishing in its detention centre” for five years already. “All you have is 900 people kept in sub-human conditions in your detention centres,” he rebuked.
Maruti: “Maruti makes it official: No diesel cars from 2020” is the Express headline for a report carried in Hindu too. Express quotes chairman R.C. Bhargava to say the company might reconsider the decision “depending on how customers react”. Express points out that Maruti is the first manufacturer to make its decision public made for reasons of pollution and mounting costs.
Business Standard provides another reason for the decision: “Maruti signal tough road” with alarm bells for the auto market, signaling its “weakest growth forecast in the past five years”.
Opinion
In “The IS Shadow”, The Hindu emphasises that the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka only remind us that the Islamic State may have lost its territorial grip on Iraq and Syria but it is “expanding terror and insurgency”, especially into South Asia with attacks in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh before the Sri Lankan suicide attacks.
No attacks on India, so far, but it has “found dozens of recruits” — and these recruits come from educated, wealthy backgrounds, across the region. Apart from the need to combat the security threat, Hindu says the “puritanical Salafi-jihadism ideology of IS needs a counter narrative”.
Express in “The Pragya Bailout” finds the special court and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) “seem to disagree on the quality of the evidence” in the Sadhvi Pragya case: NIA pleads evidence against her is “insufficient”, the court framed charges because it found the “prima facie evidence” was enough. This has a larger political context: BJP sees political motives in terror cases against Hindu groups and from the Mecca Masjid case to the Samjhauta Express one, all have “fallen apart”. Now, by fielding Pragya as a Lok Sabha candidate, it seems to say, party and ideology supersede the “law and due process”. The court must “uphold” both, urges Express.
Prime Time
Evening debates and discussions across television news channels were overshadowed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mega roadshow in Varanasi.
During the day, “Priyanka won’t take on Modi in Varanasi” (CNN News18) and “Rahul won’t risk behen” (India Today) hogged the headlines after Congress announced Alok Rai’s candidature from Modi’s constituency.
Modi’s impressive outing in the city impressed all TV anchors.
Times Now: Anchor Navika Kumar wondered if the opposition had the strength to take down BJP in 2019.
Samajwadi Party spokesperson Faizan Kidwai’s argument was novel: “We are just three people (Mayawati, Akhilesh, Ajit Singh) coming together while BJP is contesting elections alongside 38 parties. Tell me which one is Mahamilavat?”
“There is no Modi wave. These people must have been hired. Nation knows everything — even the business of banarasi sarees has stalled (due to economic distress),” observed political analyst Dushyant Nagar.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia pointed out that at Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s rallies “one can witness empty chairs” but the “people are really connected with Narendra Modi”.
#PMInVaranasi | @gauravbh, National Spokesperson, BJP with his views on @thenewshour. pic.twitter.com/DcNc4xCcQX
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) April 25, 2019
ET Now: Here anchor Nayantara Rai debated the decision not to field Priyanka Gandhi Vadra against Modi.
Congress spokesperson Sanjay Jha was evasive: “This is a very mature, pragmatic decision by the Congress party. Congress very seriously considered the options of Priyanka contesting from Varanasi but there are many other compelling circumstances,” he said obscurely.
“You can see the sea of humans in Modi’s roadshow,” boasted BJP’s Anila Singh and added that the PM had done many things for the city, including improving its drainage.
#IndiaDevelopmentDebate | #Battle2019
Has PM Modi delivered in his constituency (Varanasi) in last five years? How has he fared on Ganga cleanup project? Or has he failed? @BJP4India spokesperson @AnilaSingh2 explains.@NayantaraRai #LokSabhaElections2019 pic.twitter.com/BrbxHqSt5O— ET NOW (@ETNOWlive) April 25, 2019
Aaj Tak: Anchor Rohit Sardana’s show “Dangal” also tackled Priyanka’s no-show in Varanasi.
Congress spokesperson Rajiv Tyagi defensively said that every party had its own strategy and there were strategic reasons in this decision.
“Even Indira Gandhi lost elections so let us not be so sure that Narendra Modi will win from Varanasi,” he said.
BJP leader Rajeev Jaitly was scornful of Congress: “It is just a formality for the Congress party to contest elections, Rahul Gandhi thinks that Ajay Rai can defeat Modi, then let him think so.”
NDTV 24×7: Underlying Modi’s show of strength, the debate revolved around the question: was 2019 all about Modi?
Anchor Sreenivasan Jain analysed 50 per cent of Modi’s rally speeches — this indicated that the word the PM used most often was “Modi” (over 175 times). Excerpts from his speeches heard him say that every vote for BJP went directly into Modi’s account.
Psephologist Sanjeev Kumar said it was not “surprising” as Modi was at the “centre” of the elections. The aim was that people should not consider any issue but Modi’s leadership — “without Modi, BJP is in deep trouble”, he added.
Psephologist Amitabh Dubey was a little dubious: voters especially in BJP-run states like Gujarat were reluctant to reveal their voting preferences and sought safety in saying they’d vote for Modi, he said.
BJP’s Vivek Reddy claimed the “pan India agenda” was for strong leadership and there was a “surge all over India” for Modi.
Tweet of the day
After bumper rallies in Darbhanga and Banda, I am heading to beloved Kashi.
There are a series of programmes lined up, which would give me another excellent opportunity to interact with my sisters and brothers of Kashi.
Har Har Mahadev!
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 25, 2019