Front Page
It’s becoming a trend — mainstream newspapers lead with different stories once again Tuesday. Hindustan Times has the conviction of 19 people by a Delhi Court in the Muzaffarpur shelter home sexual abuse case. The Times of India goes with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s message to BJP workers at J.P. Nadda’s swearing in ceremony as the new party president. The Indian Express makes its own news with President Ram Nath Kovind’s remarks at the Ramnath Goenka Awards for Excellence in Journalism where he said, “Our democracy relies on uncovering facts, willingness to debate”. The Hindu highlights Jammu & Kashmir Lieutenant Governor’s invite to investors, adding that communication curbs will go.
Muzaffapur sexual abuse case: HT reports that the sentencing hearing will be held on 28 January. It also has a table titled “Shelter Home Horror” that details how the Muzaffarpur case unfolded. Hindu notes that the conviction took place under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
IMF cuts India’s growth rate: Important but disappointing news on the economy receives a mixed reaction in the papers: the International Monetary Fund cut India’s growth rate by 1.3 percentage points to 4.8 per cent for 2019-20. Oddly, this is just a blip in The Economic Times, the economic newspaper while Business Standard, Express and even TOI feature the story as the second lead. HT and Hindu downgrade it to under the fold of page 1.
IMF “had pegged economic growth at 6.1% for 2019 in October’’, notes Hindu; Express adds that it also called it “a drag on the world economy”. HT says IMF Chief Economist, Gita Gopinath explained that India’s growth slowed sharply because of “stress in the non-bank financial sector and weak rural income growth”.
Modi’s message to party members: TOI reports that at Nadda’s inauguration PM Modi said, “Ignore ‘madhyam’ hostility, meet people directly”. The report adds that he also “(disregarded) the coverage of recent events by ‘mediums’ which he suggested were unfair and had blanked out pro-government rallies.”
Opinion
Hindustan Times: J.P. Nadda’s appointment as BJP National President can be seen as proof that it’s possible for people to work their way up in the part, writes HT in “The challenges JP Nadda faces”.
However, there are several challenges in front of the newly-elected president of the ruling party, it writes. These include making a mark in the presence of Modi and Shah, managing the relationship with the RSS while ensuring the party’s autonomy. Also, managing its political allies and heading the Delhi election campaign lie ahead of Nadda immediately, it writes.
HT notes that Nadda will have an important role in deciding what the BJP should focus on next, given that issues like article 370, Ram mandir and CAA have already been addressed.
The Indian Express: The launch of the list of ‘10 guarantees’ by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal indicates the evolving strategy of the Aam Aadmi Party, writes Express in “Develop Delhi Party”. It notes that during the party’s initial days, it had a political plank against systematic corruption. However, now the party’s record in the government has become its politics, argues the daily.
Express writes that the party has attempted to shift the political discourse towards solution-oriented politics rather than waging an ideological war. This is evident in the recent protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) as well where the party is steering clear from organising protests.
Prime Time
On NDTV 24×7’s Nidhi Razdan spoke to historian Ramachandra Guha about the continuing protests against the citizenship law, which he said were an indication that the current regime was not “invulnerable”. Arnab Goswami on Republic TV went after the `parivar’ in “Sonia Pawar Drop Secularism Mask” and that “It’s back to Muslim Appeasement” for them. On NDTV India, Ravish Kumar spoke to Rahul Pandita, the writer and director of the upcoming film on Kashmiri Pandits Shikara. On Zee News, Sudhir Chaudhary presented his ‘Daily News Analysis’ on the recently inducted Indian Air Force fighter jet Sukhoi- 30MKI equipped with the missile BrahMos.
CNN News-18: On ‘The Right Stand’, anchor Anand Narasimhan discussed the #30YearsSince Exodus, with looping visuals of a studio audience of Kashmiri Pandits distraught at the memory of the ‘religious cleansing’.
Activist Amit Raina spoke of the lost culture, traditions and language, and how there must be a deadline for when the Pandits can return to the Valley.
BJP spokesperson Narendra Taneja chipped in saying this was at the top of the government’s agenda: “We want to see you back there”.
National Conference spokesperson Dr. Sameer Kaul spoke about the need to set up a truth and reconciliation committee but the anchor cut him off and said the party’s inaction should “weigh on his conscience”. Kaul retorted and said, “Let me decide what should be on my conscience”.
NewsX: On ‘The Nation @ 9’with anchor Rishabh Gulati, the panel discussed actor Saif Ali Khan’s comments about how an idea of India did not really exist until the British came, with the headline, “Nawab idea of India gets roasted”.
BJP spokesperson Vishal Sharma said that India was+ rooted in the Sanskrit idea of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (one world, one family) and Akhand Bharat (undivided India).
The anchor interrupted him: “But what is akhand bharat, is it simply territory or unity and identity?”
Sharma replied that, unity and identity cannot exist without territory.
Historian Kapil Kumar, however, differed: it was “high time” we stopped discussing how India existed before, and focus on how India exists today and take that forward, he said.
India TV: Anchor Rajat Sharma began with Nadda’s appointment and went on to show PM Modi’s ‘no filter’ address to students appearing for examinations in Pariksha Par Charcha.
Sharma said Nadda will now have to face many challenges. One of them is clearing the air and addressing the ‘rumors’ on the CAA.
Sharma spoke about the ongoing protests at Shaheen Bagh, which according to him, is the biggest proof of the result of the rumours around the new law. Sharma pointed to the inconvenience caused to people due to the protest, now 37 days old.
News 18 India: On ‘Aar Par’, anchor Amish Devgan spoke of the ‘contradictory statements’ from Congress leaders over CAA as former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda joined the list of leaders saying that the states cannot deny implementing CAA.
Political analyst Nishant Verma defended Congress’ stance and said that refusing to implement CAA is not under the constitutional power of the state, which has simply been pointed out by leaders such as Salman Khurshid and Kapil Sibbal. “However, the states can pass a resolution against it and send it to the Centre”
BJP’s Sudhanshu Trivedi took a dig at Congress over its unclear take on several issues, “Whether it is article 370 or Ram Mandir, there is always a lack of uniformity in opinion among Congress leaders”.