Prime Time
Bollywood ‘khiladi’ Akshay Kumar interviewed Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Lok Kalyan Marg today. The interview was streamed by news agency ANI and carried by almost all news channels. This was a personalized interview, framed to explore the characteristics of Narendra Modi, the individual rather than the politician. So it covered everything from his relationship with his mother, to his diet, his clothes and his sense of humour.
Akshay Kumar asked Modi what he learnt from selling tea in his early days. “When I used to sell tea, I met a lot of people and got to learn about human nature. In the trains, there would be people who transport cows and buffaloes. I used to listen to the songs they brought along with them. That’s how I got fluent in speaking Hindi.”
Did he have friends in other parties? Modi replied in the affirmative. “I have friends in the opposition also. I have lunch with them once in a year or so. We are connected like a family, which you do not see on the outside. This may harm me in the elections but Mamata didi does select kurta for me and sends it to me once in a year. Bangladeshi PM (Sheikh Hasina) also sends me Bengali sweets.”
On whether he misses his mother and family living with him now that he is PM, Modi said he was not really “attached” to his mother. “If I would have left home after becoming the PM, then probably I would have missed my mother. But I left home at an early age…. (when) I was young, I got such training that I don’t feel too attached.”
Akshay Kumar used the opportunity to praise Modi. He said, “I admire you not as a PM but as a human being. You are a lovely person who has seen a lot in life. You have achieved a lot and have also lost a lot.”
In other TV news, Tuesday was polling day and all channels covered PM Modi voting and flashing the V for Victory sign. Voting was also debated at prime time.
However, first, NDTV 24×7’s exclusive interview with Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in which admitted that India had forwarded intelligence of possible terrorist attack, “India gave us intelligence, but there was a lapse.”
“We have a good intelligence sharing system with India. It has been giving us the help we need. We also have got help from the USA and UK. Our priority is to apprehend the terrorists. Until we do that, no one is safe.”
The island nation’s PM also mentioned that Sri Lanka was confident of its critical tourism sector recovering from the setback.
“We will be back on the scene. Not only us, Egypt has gone through this, Bali had been through it. It is unfortunate for the economy but tourism will recover…we have come through many such incidents of terror and war,” Wickremesinghe asserted.
Aaj Tak: Anchor Anjana Om Kashyap said that voting has now finished in 308 seats as of now or more than “aadha Hindustan” has voted. Kashyap said the data obtained by Aaj Tak indicated that only 50 per cent of eligible voters had cast their vote till 5 pm.
Several opposition leaders across party lines alleged EVM malfunctioning place in the third phase of polling as well.
BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said, “Now the opposition can clearly see that they are losing that is why they have gone mad.”
Congress spokesperson Rajiv Tyagi mentioned, “People are more concerned about problems like unemployment and farmers distress, hence, they will vote for Congress and help them win.”
Samajwadi spokesperson Ghanshyam Tiwari said, “BJP is not going to win the elections. Why are they celebrating when people are not able to cast their vote?”
India Today: With actor Sunny Deol joining the BJP on Tuesday, anchor Rahul Kanwal asked whether celebrities are entering ‘NETADOM’ (Field of politicians).
BJP spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao said, “We have declared 434 candidates as of now. A few of them will obviously be lateral entry from different walks of life.”
#LokSabhaElections2019
What has Sunny Deol done that makes him worthy of a ticket in 17th Lok Sabha seat? Listen in to BJP spokesperson @GVLNRAO's response. #ElectionNewstrack with @RahulKanwal LIVE at https://t.co/4fqxBVUizL pic.twitter.com/2IjLG6tru2
— IndiaToday (@IndiaToday) April 23, 2019
Psephologist Y.R. Deshmukh said, “They (celebrities) should be given seats in the Rajya Sabha — they do not directly interact with the masses. The problem with celebrities is that they continue to live dual life.”
CNN-NEWS 18: Anchor Marya Shakil interviewed Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath.
When questioned about his son Nakul contesting Lok Sabha polls from Chhindwara, he said, “Every father’s dream is that his son does better than him and I hope Nakul does better than what I did.”
He added that he had asked “the people of Chhindwara” who should be the candidate and “they unanimously said Nakul.”
Front Page
Newspapers are divided over lead stories today: the sexual harassment charge against CJI Ranjan Gogoi is the choice of Times of India and The Indian Express.
For The Hindu, it’s the horrific Sri Lanka terror attack – for the third consecutive day. Hindustan Times highlights EVM woes in its lead.
TOI highlights many ‘firsts’ of a case like this: In ‘In a first, 3-judge committee to probe plaint against CJI’. Forming such a panel is “a precedent-setting decision”.
“This will be the first time in the 69-year-old history of the SC that a sexual harassment complaint against the head of the judiciary would be inquired into by a panel of three SC judges”, TOI writes.
Express says “The in house committee came through a decision of the full court as the Supreme Court rules for ‘in house procedure’ have no explicit provisions for any inquiry into allegations made against the CJI”. It clarifies the inquiry will be an administrative and “departmental” one rather than a judicial one.
The SC is also in the news for ordering the Gujarat government to offer 2002 gangrape survivor Bilkis Bano Rs 50 lakh as compensation, in addition to a job and accommodation of her choice — CJI Gogoi led the bench. Bilkis was allegedly brutally raped during the 2002 riots.
Sri Lanka terror
In Hindu’s ‘Sri Lanka links blasts to Christchurch attacks’, the paper reports the attacks, “were meant as retaliation for the Christchurch mosque shootings in New Zealand”.
“An India-based hotel had also been a target on Sunday…Later, investigators established that the same person had blown himself up at a small hotel in a Colombo suburb”, it writes.
Others newspapers focus on IS’s role. TOI says their involvement “lent credence to the assessment that a global terror outfit may have joined hands with a local outfit, National Thawheed Jamaat, in executing the Easter bombings.” It carries a photograph of the suspected bomber – so does the Express – as he enters St Sebastian’s church in Negombo.
Hindustan Times’s wire copy says “Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe warned of the possibility of further attacks as more militants were still at large”.
Sadhvi Pragya
Also making news is ‘NIA: Found no grounds to prosecute Pragya, for EC to decide on poll bar’ (TOI). “NIA on Tuesday said that in its 2016 supplementary chargesheet, it had not found sufficient evidence to prosecute her”, it writes.
This, “despite the special court in Mumbai rejecting its (NIA’s) clean chit to Pragya Singh Thakur and framing charges against her”, writes the Express.
US-Iran-India
India may not escape Iran oil sanctions as US stands firm’ says HT’s headline. It says India is “stung” about the US withdrawing its waiver on the import of oil from Iran, and that “it had put in place a “robust plan” to ensure the measure doesn’t affect supplies of crude oil to refineries.”
IE’s headline is more disturbing: ‘US to India: Helping you on Azhar, so end Iran imports’.
“The US backed India after the Pulwama attack. Delhi, which relies on US support at the UNSC, has a tough choice given Iran accounts for about 13% of its oil imports”, it writes in ‘Explained’.
Tweet of the day
What a tamasha!! I take blessings from my mother everyday while going for campaign. She is never out of my sight while I'm at home and I don't deliberately keep her hundreds of miles away. It's just that I don't try to make it a 'Media Event' https://t.co/7isgshRzUy
— Tejashwi Yadav (@yadavtejashwi) April 23, 2019
With inputs from Shailaja Bajpai.