New Delhi: Prime time debates Sunday were primarily concerned with the upcoming coronavirus vaccine. However, BJP’s chief ministerial candidate in the upcoming West Bengal elections and plans of the protesting farmers to enter the national capital on Republic Day, also featured in discussions.
With West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee promising a free vaccine to the people of her state, Zee News anchor Aditi Tyagi asked if this move contradicts the CM’s former apprehensions towards the “BJP vaccine”.
Narottam Mishra, Cabinet Minister, Home Affairs, Madhya Pradesh, said, “Mamata Banerjee is politicising health here; it is not being done by BJP.”
BJP spokesperson Prem Shukla said that the TMC is copying BJP’s schemes in order to pull through the election.
Refuting Shukla’s comment, TMC leader Sujata Mandal said, “BJP actively roots out schemes from the Mamata administration, Nirmal Bangla turns into Swachh Bharat.” She added that this time around, the people of Bengal will side with Mamata irrespective of any vote-bank politics.
Discussing the racism incident that Indian cricketer Mohammed Siraj faced at the Sydney Cricket Ground, NDTV 24X7 anchor Vishnu Som addressed the history of racism in various countries.
John Gloster, ex-physio, India said, “I have heard (abuses) from the crowd in many grounds, not just in Australia.” Gloster added that such remarks have a grave impact on most players’ mental health and such incidents should not be left unattended.
Cricket commentator Charu Sharma said, “It’s not just in India or Australia. It’s around the world, in every arena. The difference now is: the people are standing up.” Sharma stressed the need to fast track action against people who indulge in such behaviour.
Amrit Mathur, ex-general manager, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), asked for better security and a stringent penal action against offenders.
“More worrying is when it is institutionalised or the players, who ought to know better and have also signed up to a policy of anti-racism, breach the protocol,” Mathur said.
News18 India’s Prashant Churhe spoke about the significance of 16 January, as India gets set to begin its Covid vaccination drive.
“16 January is going to be a new chapter in India’s history. On 16 January India’s largest vaccination drive will begin. It will be the day when coronavirus’ countdown will begin,” he said.
Churhe said the days of coronavirus are limited in India. This is the day which the whole nation was waiting for.
“It isn’t easy to have a vaccination drive this big, but the Modi government is preparing a special plan to counter these problems. Now we only wait for PM Modi, when he will flag this vaccination drive on 16th,” he added.
Ahead of the Bengal assembly elections, Times Now‘s Navika Kumar interviewed BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya.
“Who is your chief ministerial candidate? There is a lot of speculation that Sourav Ganguly ji is the BJP’s best bet. Recently, when Ganguly was hospitalised, BJP leaders made a beeline and inquired about him,” Kumar asked him.
BCCI president and former Indian cricket team captain Sourav Ganguly sparked these rumours after a meeting with Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar at Raj Bhavan in Kolkata on 27 December.
Vijayvargiya said the election will be fought “under the leadership of Narendra Modi”, adding that the chief minister will be chosen after the election is won.
About Ganguly, he said, “We [BJP] have personal relations with him and he is the pride of the country… but it wouldn’t be appropriate to link those with politics.” However, Vijayvargiya added, “If he wants to join us, we welcome him.”
Republic TV’s Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami held a debate about protesting farmers, who are planning a tractor march in Delhi on Republic Day if their demands are not met. Goswami accused the farmers of wanting “to hijack 26 Jan”.
In a heated interaction between panel members, political analyst Vivek Srivastava asked Major General (Retd.) G.D. Bakshi, who was arguing against the farmers’ plans, why he “hates” them “so much” and “loves Adanis and Ambanis”.
Bakshi shouted back, “I just told you 80 per cent of the Army are farmers. Don’t give us this binary! It has got nothing to do with the Republic Day parade.”
Srivastava argued, “The farmers should be allowed to participate in the Republic Day and you should not hate the farmers…These farmers are patriotic, they believe in India…”
Political analyst Monojit Mandal said the farm laws need to be repealed as sought by the farmers, as they represent the “public” in “Republic”.
When Mandal asked why debates are not covering topics like the death of 10 newborn babies in a hospital in Maharashtra’s Bhandara Saturday, Goswami retorted, “For that, you ask the state government, no?”
With inputs from Saumya Sharma.