Hindi
28 March 2019: Amar Ujala’s editorial takes up the controversy of electoral bonds — a case on this is being heard by the Supreme Court. Ujala says political parties don’t want transparency in their financial dealings as large part of their “donations” comes from undisclosed sources. The Election Commission has said electoral bonds and corporate funding will have an adverse impact on transparency. Since donors’ names are secret, how we will know who purchased the bonds sold by State Bank of India on a certain date for a fixed amount and where the donation went, Ujala asks.
27 March: Dainik Jagran and Amar Ujala comment on India’s successful A-SAT launch. Ujala says “Antriksh mein chauthi taqat”, while Jagran calls it a “Shandar safalta”.
Amar Ujala says it is another milestone in India’s space programme — there was pressure on India to acquire this capability after China successfully tested its anti-satellite missile in 2007.
Jagran speaks of the politics regarding Prime Minister Narendra Modi making the announcement, but also asks Congress President Rahul Gandhi why the erstwhile Manmohan Singh’s government did not give the go-ahead for the test.
Dainik Jagran, interestingly, published a piece by M.J. Akbar, who resigned as a Union Minister of State last year after a spate of allegations of sexual harassment against him. Writing on the Congress’s Nyuntam Aay Yojna (NYAY) to provide Rs 72,000 per annum to the poorest of the poor, Akbar recounts a tale from the Arabian Nights where a rich Arab sheikh invites the poor for a feast and pretends to serve them the best kebabs. The recipient acts as if the imaginary kebabs are the best — others follow suit out of fear.
Akbar says the NYAY is like ‘khyali pulao’— Rahul Gandhi feeds the people a fantasy and reaps benefits of it.
26 March: Dainik Bhaskar writes on the fate of elderly BJP politicians. It says that by sidelining BJP veterans L.K. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Shanta Kumar, while Uma Bharti and Kalraj Mishra withdrew from the electoral battle, the BJP has put politicians aged 70 plus on alert. The contribution of these senior leaders in building the party is not insignificant, but they shouldn’t mind making way for new young faces, it writes.
Dainik Jagran’s editorial “Amir hotey janpratinidhi” considers the growing wealth of parliamentarians. It quotes the BJP’s claim that Rahul Gandhi owned property worth Rs 55 lakh in 2004, which increased to Rs 9 crore in 2014. This increase in wealth is “astounding” considering Rahul is neither a businessman nor a doctor or a lawyer. A recent study reveals that 153 MPs who were re-elected saw their income increase on an average by 142 per cent — or Rs 13.32 crore.“Dal mein kuch toh kala hai”, the newspaper says.
Tamil
27 March: Daily Thanthi raised the unemployment issue with a focus on the upcoming election. It says, “Currently, unemployment is more prevalent in the entire country, including Tamil Nadu — 6.2 per cent graduates in the state are jobless. For the first time, voters will vote/support the party that gives them hope for future employment opportunities”.
26 March: Dinamani’s editorial wonders, “How does one regulate the (election canvas on) social media? How to stop the spread of fake news as well as undignified statements? Will social media platforms agree to pull down such comments if directed by the EC within three hours of the complaint? Is this feasible even if they agree? For a clean election, fake news and propaganda through social media should be put to an end”.