New Delhi: Prime time debates Thursday night saw Mirror Now debate the rising number of coronavirus cases amid the festive season, NewsX dissected the fiscal package announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman while Times Now and News Nation discussed the row over the unveiling of Indian philosopher Swami Vivekannada’s statue at JNU campus by Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday.
India’s Covid-19 tally is on the verge of crossing the 87-lakh mark. The country is in the middle of a surge in cases and Delhi is also going through its worst phase of the pandemic. On Mirror Now, anchor Tanvi Shukla led the debate on why this is a massive concern.
“The government is preparing for an expected surge in coronavirus cases because of the festive season. The issue is the execution of the guidelines. How much they’re executed at the grassroots level, there’s nobody to see,” said Dr Mangesh Pate, Chairman, Indian Medical Association’s National Covid Task Force.
AAP’s Nitin Tyagi claimed that the Delhi government is prepared for a surge in cases. “Factors like a market opening up, festive season, winter setting in and Delhi pollution, should be taken into account. We’re trying to communicate with people,” he said.
“People have started believing that Covid is gone and they are not taking enough precaution. We seem to be in ‘auto’ mode now,” Dr. Mahesh Chandra Misra, former director of AIIMS, argued.
The panel also discussed a recent study in the journal Lancet Psychiatry that revealed a link between the virus and mental illnesses.
“We’re ignoring the psycho-social impact. It’s been found that one in five coronavirus patients was seen suffering from anxiety, depression or dementia. The study shows that such people with the psychiatric problem are more likely to develop Covid,” said NCP leader Dr. Sameer Dalwai.
News X moved to the FM’s announcement of a fiscal stimulus in the third tranche of the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, Thursday.
“As far as businesses and the small industry is concerned, they’re still getting suffocated because of the compliances and regulations by local bureaucrats,” said Dr. Jaijit Bhattarcharya, resident, Centre For Digital Economy Policy Research.
Professor Madhav Nalapat, editorial director of iTV Network, argued, “The problem is that a lot of these policies essentially get processed through our extremely powerful bureaucratic structure where there’s not enough involvement of outside talent and ideas.”
But Mohan Pai, Chairman of Manipal Global Education, disagreed with others:“The worst is over. India is not under the lockdown it was in late March and April, May. People are much assured.”
Appreciating Sitharman’s numerous press conferences announcing schemes to boost the economy, Darshan Hiranandani, Group CEO of Hiranandani Group, said, “The fact that the FM is proactively coming out every other month, every third month with policy changes, improvements is important.”
Anchor Rubika Liyaquat on ABP News considered the comment by TMC leaders that AIMIM is BJP’s B team. But instead of a discussion, the entire show was one big drama by BJP leader Sambit Patra.
“This is a very serious issue. For 10 years, the two parties (Congress and AIMIM) followed a gathbandhan. Owaisi was a part of Sonia Gandhi’s alliance for nine years. If they knew AIMIM is BJP’s B Team then why did they roam around with them?,” Patra said.
“I am shocked to see Congress and AIMIM fight. Today those indulging in appeasement and fundamentalism are fighting against each other,” Patra added.
“You mean Owaisi is a fundamentalist party, and the other is appeasement?,” the anchor asked.
Congress’ Abhay Dubey then began to refuted Patra’s allegations but the latter interrupted “Someone get me a bouquet, I want to give him.”
“Leave it bhai, there is no point in arguing. Camera man bhai, please pass me the bouquet, I want to give to the Congress party,” he added.
Patra even managed to get a bouquet on camera and told Dubey, “Take this please, you are the CM, we have lost, please don’t shout.”
Amid all this, Times Now debated the row over unveiling of the Vivekananda statue in JNU, which the Left has slammed.
“If we must not let our ideologies get in the way of national interest, that applies for the BJP as well as the Congress,” said journalist Smita Gupta, adding that “It is for people to decide whether people are using Swami Vivekananda’s statue for political purposes or not.”
“We must think about what the Modi government is doing with the figure of Swami Vivekananda and how they are instrumentalizing him,” Saroj Giri, assistant professor at Delhi University told Rahul Shivshankar.
While CPI(M)’s Suneet Chopra said, “This is not the time for statues, it’s time for teaching.”
News Nation looked at the “mentality” and “mindset” of those protesting against the event.
Anchor Deepak Chaurisa asked, “Is JNU being converted into a rebel adda in the name of speech and expression?”
“Vivekananda is not the BJP’s legacy. Left student organizations are against him and they have made even Vivekananda a saffron leader and this highlights their disgusting mentality,” Chaurasia said.
“Is the Left not happy with PM Modi visiting JNU?” the anchor finally asked.
Communist leader Vivek Srivastava’s response was very confusing. “PM Modi visiting JNU is wrong, he is mischievous. The Left has even made a comeback in Bihar,” said
But Chaurasia did not let him get away with it — “Forget it sir, you have won nothing. CPI (ML) has won in Bihar, you got nothing. Your thought process doesn’t match.”
