Back home, as the election season gets heated, the Urdu dailies are stepping up their coverage of the key contenders in the five poll-bound states, throwing light on their headline pledges as well as candidate lists.
Flagging the humanitarian crisis in the densely-populated Palestinian coastal enclave, the Kolkata edition of Akhbar-e-Mashriq, in its leader on October 16, writes that Gazans are caught in the crossfire between the Israel military and Hamas fighters. While Israel has ordered over one million Palestinian residents of northern Gaza to evacuate to the south, Hamas has asked them to stay put, it says, adding that tens of thousands of Palestinians have left home in a desperate bid to save their lives.
The editorial talks of Israel tightening its blockade of the tiny enclave and cutting off the supplies of water, fuel, power and other essentials, and of homes and hospitals brimming with people and running out of vital supplies, even as the United Nations and other humanitarian aid organisations have thrown up their hands in despair. “There are reports that those heading south have also faced Israeli airstrikes,” the edit adds.
“The bombs might be raining in Gaza and hitting innocent Palestinians, who are without food, water and electricity, but the world, including 57 Muslim countries, seems to have turned a blind eye to their plight,” the daily says. “Of the few Muslim countries which have raised their voice seeking justice for Palestinians is Iran, which has warned Israel of escalation of the conflict if it launches ground offensive against Gaza.”
Highlighting the perceived chill in the relations between Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and the BJP central leadership, the New Delhi edition of Inquilab, in its editorial on October 11, says that the fact that his name figured in the party’s fourth list of candidates for the Assembly polls would have “come as a relief” to him. The four-time CM might have feared that he would be shunted to the party’s “Marg Darshak Mandal” meant for its veterans, the edit says.
It adds that such “apprehension” would not be without a basis since usually any incumbent CM makes it to his or her party’s first list of poll nominees. “Chouhan had to wait for the fourth list to see his name. Besides, while addressing his Bhopal rally on September 25, Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not mention him or even his flagship schemes,” it says, asking whether the BJP high command is distancing the party from Chouhan in a bid to offset the “anti-incumbency and fatigue factors” which have set in against his nearly 18-year-long regime.
The daily notes that this buzz has been reinforced by various remarks made by Chouhan himself in recent days. At a cabinet meeting, the CM thanked his colleagues and officers for their work as if it were his farewell speech, the edit says. “Chouhan also struck an emotional chord while addressing a rally in his Budhni constituency, telling women ‘You will not get such a brother again. You will remember me when I am gone’.”
Significantly, in an earlier list, the BJP named several MPs, including Union ministers, some of whom are considered to be potential CM faces, the editorial adds. By doing it, the BJP leadership has signalled to the people that the CM race would be wide open in the event of the party’s victory. “A ticket might have come as a breather for Chouhan, but it could just be a temporary reprieve.”
Referring to Telangana CM and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) chief K Chandrashekar Rao or KCR’s plan to undertake a whirlwind tour of the state to spearhead the party’s campaign for the November 30 Assembly polls, the Hyderabad-based Siasat, in its editorial on October 15, says that the stakes are high for both the BRS and the principal Opposition Congress. “It will be a hat-trick for the BRS if it returns to power. On the other hand, despite taking credit for carving the Telangana state out of Andhra Pradesh, the Congress has still not been able to come to its helm,” it notes. “Some BRS leaders have switched to the Congress, and it may be the other way round too ahead of the polls. Also, some surveys are predicting an upper hand for the Congress.”
The editorial points out that the BRS is not lagging in the race though, with KCR now set to lead the party’s charge after the ground work done by ministers like his son K T Rama Rao and Harish Rao. The CM has already announced almost all his candidates. “KCR plans to visit about 100 out of 119 constituencies across Telangana. He is a formidable campaigner, whose finger is on people’s pulse. Once he mounts his mass outreach on the campaign trail, it is bound to heat up the fray,” the edit says.
The daily writes that the BRS government has however not been able to fulfil some of its key pledges during its two terms since the formation of the state in 2014. “The KCR dispensation could not implement its recruitment promise. It did not fulfil its land allotment pledge for the vulnerable communities. And it could also not deliver on the promise of providing allowance to jobless youths,” the edit says, noting that KCR would however showcase his various flagship welfare schemes like Dalit Bandhu in his electioneering.
The editorial says the Muslim community had joined the Telangana statehood movement as it had been promised “justice” in the new state. “But the KCR regime did not deliver it. The Y S Rajasekhara Reddy-led Congress government in undivided Andhra Pradesh had granted 4% quota for Muslims. The KCR government had pledged to hike the Muslim quota to 12%, but it remains unfulfilled.”
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