The Urdu dailies have framed it as a chronicle of an arrest foretold. Delhi Chief Minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on the eve of the Lok Sabha polls has continued to dominate their front pages and commentary sections. The development has come as a twist in the tale of the grand face-off, with the dailies reading in it the ruling party’s “vendetta and insecurities”. Noting that Kejriwal’s arrest has galvanised a divided Opposition INDIA bloc and provided them a compelling narrative, they also wondered whether it would mark the tipping point in their battle against the BJP. ROZNAMA RASHTRIYA SAHARA Commenting on Kejriwal’s arrest by the ED in an alleged money laundering case related to the now-scrapped Delhi liquor policy, the multi-edition Roznama Rashtriya Sahara, in its March 23 editorial, writes that it marked the BJP’s continued targeting of prominent Opposition leaders who stand up against its “oppressive politics”. “Kejriwal had been in the crosshairs of the BJP-ruled Centre in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections. This was reflected in the ED’s repeated moves to issue summons to Kejriwal, which he ignored,” it says. The editorial notes that while seeking Kejriwal’s remand, the ED told the court that the CM was a “key conspirator” in the alleged scam involving kickbacks from the South Group, to help them in the excise policy and fund the AAP’s 2022 Goa Assembly campaign. With the AAP camp saying that despite Kejriwal being sent to jail, he will continue to remain the CM, the daily states: “What will be the legal status of the Kejriwal government now, who will run it, or whether the Centre will take the reins of Delhi in its hands?" However, the daily adds, "the most serious issue that Kejriwal's arrest has thrown up is about the crisis facing India’s democracy and fair elections", and how “the government has been bent on crushing the Opposition". “The BJP government does not want the Opposition to fight it unitedly. The leaders of all Opposition parties, from the Congress and AAP to the TMC and JMM, are its target. A couple of months ago, the JMM’s Hemant Soren was arrested by the ED and sent to jail. Senior AAP leaders and ministers (Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh, Satyendar Jain) are already in prison,” it says, going on to mention the freezing of the Congress’s bank accounts. The daily also talks about how Kejriwal has been a formidable campaigner against the BJP. “By putting Kejriwal in jail now, the BJP government has taken him out of the Lok Sabha poll campaign." It talks about the AAP chief's rise from an anti-corruption movement, to proving his mettle as a political leader in a brief period and locking horns with the BJP from Delhi to Gujarat to Goa. “His arrest reflects the BJP’s fears that it may not pull off its tall claims about winning ‘400 paar’ seats if the Opposition gets united,” the edit says. “In Delhi and some other states, the AAP and the Congress sealed seat-sharing pacts. Kejriwal might have paid a price for it.” SIASAT Referring to the BJP’s campaign blitz in the South, the Hyderabad-based Siasat, in its leader on March 24, says that the BJP is going all out to expand its footprint in South India too. “The South has still largely remained out of bounds for the BJP barring Karnataka. In Tamil Nadu, the BJP barely exists. The party has a support base in Telangana, where it won four seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. In Andhra Pradesh, where it does not have a base, the party has chosen the alliance route for its expansion," it notes. The editorial adds that this time the party is fielding some prominent faces in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, where its performance in past elections has been poor, besides using other routes. “In various Opposition-ruled southern states, whether it is Tamil Nadu or Kerala, the BJP has left no stone unturned to disrupt the functioning of their elected governments through their Governors.” With the BJP setting a two-third majority, the South has assumed crucial significance, the daily notes. “In Telangana, the BJP has not been able to get an ally. In Karnataka, the party has been forced to align with the JD(S). It has joined hands with Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP and Pawan Kalyan’s JSP to fight the incumbent Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSRCP in Andhra Pradesh, where the entry of Jagan’s sister Y S Sharmila by joining the Congress has turned the situation more interesting,” it states, adding that despite this, breaking through the southern frontier will remain a tall order for the BJP. URDU TIMES Flagging the seat-sharing troubles besetting the NDA's Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra — involving the BJP, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar-led NCP faction — the Mumbai-based Urdu Times, in its editorial on March 23, says that the ruling coalition has yet to finalise its seat-sharing agreement, ahead of the first phase starting April 19. “Although the Mahayuti camp is claiming that it has sorted out issues regarding 80% of the total 48 seats, the prevailing situation looks different. With the three major allies not being able to seal the deal, MNS chief Raj Thackeray has also entered their scene now, demanding three seats,” it says. “Every Mahayuti ally seems to be trying to maximise its share in the seat pie. The BJP wants to contest up to 30 seats, willing to leave for the Shinde Sena its 12 sitting seats, which, in turn, is claiming 22 seats contested by the undivided Sena in 2019. The BJP is offering 6 seats to the Ajit Pawar NCP, which is seeking 8-10 seats,” the editorial states, adding that Raj Thackeray is eyeing the South Mumbai constituency while the RPI (Athawale) is also demanding seats. Preparing to contest from its western Maharashtra strongholds, the Ajit Pawar NCP has even threatened to walk out of the NDA if its demand is not accepted, the edit says, adding that the BJP's induction of multiple parties or factions into the NDA has left it struggling now to hammer out a seat-sharing formula. “In fact, there are even some seats where all three partners are claimants.”
