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HomePlugged InPrimeTimeRepublic needles Mamata on 'Jai Shri Ram', Aaj Tak freezes in Kashmir

Republic needles Mamata on ‘Jai Shri Ram’, Aaj Tak freezes in Kashmir

A quick take on what prime time TV news talked about.

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New Delhi: Prime time news on Sunday was consumed by the forthcoming elections in West Bengal. Several TV news anchors wondered why West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was annoyed by ‘Jai Shri Ram’ chants at rallies. Other anchors, meanwhile, were more concerned with the tractor rally scheduled to take place in Delhi on Republic Day.

CNN-News18’s Pallavi Ghosh explained, “… Republic Day will be the day when the farmers will be allowed to take out their tractor rally.”

“The Delhi Police has given its nod for its tractor rally, which will be allowed to proceed only after Republic Day celebrations are over and that too on specific rules,” she added.

Republic TV’s Arnab Goswami was more interested in Mamata Di’s election campaign that he claimed is ‘frayed’. “Today, all eyes are on Bengal where the political temperatures are rising by the minute.”

 

He gave a rundown of recent events in the state: “Yesterday, we saw the Prime Minister visit Kolkata to commemorate Neta ji’s 125th birth anniversary. Then, we saw Mamata Banerjee refusing to speak at the same event. She said she was offended after Jai Shri Ram chants were raised.”

“In Bengal, from Neta ji to the race to gain Nandigram, everything has become a source of politics — the Mamata government that faces 10 years of anti-incumbency is fraying at the seams with an endless series of resignations,” Goswami observed.

At India Today anchor Nabila Jamal asks why Banerjee was annoyed with the slogans.

TMC spokesperson Riju Datta replied with a jibe at BJP — “When PM Modi took the stage, there was no slogans of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ or ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’, which shows this was a very calculated move.” Datta alleged that this was done to heckle the CM as well as demean her on a government stage.

Sourav Sikdar, BJP leader didn’t let that pass: “Netaji’s father (Janakinath Bose) takes a similar name after Bhagwan Shri Ram…. I would definitely protest if this was a political slogan but it isn’t one.” Sikdar added a religious angle to the issue by saying that maybe Mamta Banerjee is allergic to ‘Jai Shri Ram’ – would her reaction have been the same if the crowd had chanted ‘Allahu Akbar’, he wondered.

With Delhi Police granting permission to farmers for the ‘Kisan Gantantra Parade’ on 26 January in the capital, NDTV India’s Nagma Seher observed that farmers in Maharashtra are also preparing for something similar as a show of support.

Ashok Dhawale, All India Kisan Sabha commented that more than “a 100 organisations are present at Azad Maidan in Mumbai — regional leaders (except for the BJP) will gather to lend their support for the movement.”

On ABP News, anchor Akhilesh Anand asked whether the tractor parade will end up in chaos after the Delhi Police indicated that 308 Twitter accounts from Pakistan are at play to radicalise the farmers’ parade.

Bharat Kisan Union’s Dharmendra Malik had a reassuring message: “Our Twitter and Facebook accounts are limited to Samyukta Kisan Morcha leaders and BKU leader Rakesh Tikait; we only follow them and if someone tries to fiddle with the protest then our IT team will counter it.”

Guru Prakash Paswan, BJP was critical of the rally; “India has witnessed many historic protests but none of them tried to disrupt the occasion of 26 January or even 15 August,” he commented.

Meanwhile, Aaj Tak took a break from politics and sent Shweta Singh to a white, snow-covered peaks of Kashmir.

Singh’s report largely focused on the contribution of Border Roads Organisation (BRO) in keeping important passes open and functioning in the winter — ‘Mausam kitne hi sitam karle, par Mausam ke khauf ke aagey na desh rukta hai na desk nirmaan ka kaam,’ Singh said in a rather poetic declamation.

With inputs from Shubhangi Misra

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