View from the right

Caste, Modi-fied

The front page also carries a report on the BJP8217;s impressive showing in the recently held municipal corporation elections where it trounced the Congress in Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, Jamnagar and Bhavnagar. Though headlined 8216;Gujarat loves Hindutva8217;, the report notes that 8216;8216;the poll results indicated that the voters were no more carried away by the emotions or the traditional caste and creed factors or even anti-incumbency factor, which were considered major parametres for psephologists.8217;8217; It goes on to highlight the details of the poll results as also Chief Minister Narendra Modi8217;s uncharacteristic modesty about the victory. According to the report, Modi asked party workers to beware of those who called the results 8216;Modi8217;s victory8217; and underlined that it was due to the collective efforts of BJP workers and the people of the state.

After the sting

The editorial on the cash-for-questions scam takes almost a compassionate view of the 8216;8216;sad fate8217;8217; of the 11 MPs who were caught on camera in a sting operation. Quoting the Biblical dictum 8212; 8216;8216;He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone8217;8217; 8212; the editorial questions the motives of the sting operation. The timing of the expose 8212; just when the spotlight was on the Volcker report 8212; is 8216;8216;significant8217;8217;. That the majority of the MPs caught on camera were from the BJP 8216;8216;could be accidental8217;8217; but 8216;8216;it has irreparably blunted the BJP8217;s response to Volcker and even its silver jubilee blitzkrieg,8217;8217; it candidly admits.

Pointing out that 8216;8216;today politics has become the most lucrative business and career8217;8217; and the 8216;8216;lavish lifestyle of politicians8217;8217; no longer raises eyebrows, the editorial says: 8216;8216;Is it that only the naive and less connected get caught?8217;8217;

Sena8217;s plateau

The Shiv Sena may espouse Hindutva but that does not stop the Organiser from a critical analysis of the party8217;s latest crisis. After reporting the Raj versus Uddhav feud, a report points out: 8216;8216;The reality is that Shiv Sena which was build on the Marathi ethos has had diminishing returns. The Shiv Sena, undoubtedly, have given Marathi youth a level-playing field by forcing local public and private companies to employ Maharashtiran youth. But as time passed, and as the situation changed in the marketplace, the Marathi youth no more cavil at the discrimination against them.8217;8217; The influx of 8216;outsiders8217; into Mumbai also made it hard for the Sena to win elections only on the Marathi plank. Though Balasaheb Thackeray tried to include Hindutva in his vocabulary 8216;8216;the conflict of interest between the Marathi Manoos and north and south Indian Hindus in Mumbai could never be bridged,8217;8217; the report insists.

Brides wanted

The ideal RSS swayamsevak may be a life-long bachelor but the Organiser 8212; keen to become a family paper 8212; has started publishing matrimonial ads. There is nothing to tell the difference, though, between their ads and those that appear in the mainstream newspapers. Sample this: Alliance for IPS boy, good cadre, 30 years, preferred beautiful vegetarian. Or Suitable match for Khatri, issueless divorcee.

Compiled by Manini Chatterjee