New Delhi: Prime time news last night was breathless in anticipation of Prime Minister Modi’s fourth address to the nation about coronavirus that, many guessed, is likely to have an announcement about the nationwide lockdown being extended.
From ABP’s Rubika Liyaquat, India Today’s Rajdeep Sardesai to FICCI President Sangeeta Reddy who appeared on Aaj Tak, several people invoked Modi’s “jaan bhi jahaan bhi” dialogue while discussing what the ‘lockdown 2.0’ could look like.
West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra called coronavirus a “hydra-headed war” that had to be tackled by looking at lives as well as livelihoods on India Today, while Republic’s Arnab Goswami dismissed all those hoping for a more relaxed lockdown and said it had to be a 100 per cent lockdown.
On Aaj Tak’s ‘Dangal’, host Rohit Sardana discussed how states like Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Maharashtra and Punjab had already announced extensions in their states. He asked business association FICCI President Sangeeta Reddy what suggestions her team had given to Prime Minister Modi on the lockdown. Reddy said that the government had been advised to take into account the crisis in the agricultural sector, as well as manufacturing and construction sectors. They advised the government to remove the lockdown, especially in green zones, in a phased manner and to put up frameworks to ensure social distancing and sanitation.
She also said the Prime Minister had done a great job thus far and FICCI would support whatever he decides.
On Zee News’ ‘Taal Thok Ke’, anchor Aditi Tyagi probed Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Keshav Prasad Maurya on the announcement that the UP government would allow construction in government projects after 15 April. He said the matter had been decided in the last meeting held by CM Yogi Adityanath, but social distancing would be employed for labourers.
Tyagi complimented Maurya on the state’s successful role in identifying numerous hotspots in the state — a fact that she said made her proud. “Even I’m a UP waali, that’s why I have such a big smile on my face”.
Maurya said that districts and parts of districts needed to be sealed because of the “problem” created by Tablighi Jamaat, but all the success could be attributed to PM Modi.
“Jaan bhi jaahan bhi, aage badhe hindustan bhi,” (life along with livelihood, India moves on) was Rubika Liyaquat’s dramatic opening dialogue for ABP News’ ‘Seedha Sawal’. She primed viewers for an “alag” (different) type of lockdown, reminding them how PM Modi mentioned ‘jaan bhi jaahan bhi’, while emphasizing on jaahan (livelihood). Till now we’re on the right path, she said encouragingly. “Bilkul badiya apna direction hain, speed ya gati bilkul badiya. Iss ko aage le jaana hain” (Our direction, speed and pace has been perfect so far, we have to keep this up). She marveled at how ministers resumed work while maintaining social distancing.
Republic TV’s Arnab Goswami, tried to build a case for an extended lockdown. He noted that some people wanted a 90 per cent or 3/4th lockdown. “I want to tell these people, if we don’t follow a lockdown, then the next three weeks ahead will be so long it will be impossible to predict the end”. He dramatically declared that the Republic network supported 100 per cent lockdown and 0 per cent leeway — “Make or break, life or death, choice is ours”.
On NDTV 24×7’s ‘Left Right Centre’, host Nidhi Razdan commented that amongst many changes, new plans of social distancing and possibly high airfares might be apparent for airlines.
“What blueprint is the government following?,” she asked colleague Sanket Upadhaya, who said that we’d have to wait and see tomorrow. Right.
However, he said it was a “no brainer” there would be an extension, but there could be some relaxations because the commerce ministry, for instance, was aware that exporters are suffering.
Agriculture and the food supply chain was another concern. However, the government was concerned about the sudden uptick in the number of Covid-19 cases reported towards the end of the lockdown. This was because we are now testing more, pointed out Razdan, adding that according to ICMR there have now been two lakh tests in the country.
On India Today, Rajdeep Sardesai noted that even though yesterday was Baisakhi and Bihu, the festival of harvest, there was no harvesting taking place in large parts of the country. He said that both manufacturing and agriculture have been hit by lockdown 1.0, and asked what will lockdown 2.0 look like? “How to balance jaan and jahaan?”
Calling coronavirus a “hydra-headed war”, West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra said that we had not one but two urgent challenges — “Save lives from corona and save lives from collapse of economy”. He said this lockdown needed a “human face”, and said that putting traffic light colors on hotspots was not enough as it was a dynamic process and hotspots can shift.
In the most unusual broadcast earlier in the evening, Sardesai interviewed his mother Nandini Sardesai,75, who lived in Mumbai. They spoke about her coping with the lockdown as an elderly person who lived alone. She assured her son she was well and managing fine. Well, we’re glad.