From the Urdu Press: ‘Bypoll booster for INDIA mirrors LS trends’, ‘Why Samvidhan Hatya Diwas now, in third term?’

Commenting on the results of the 13 Assembly bypolls, the multi-edition Roznama Rashtriya Sahara, in its leader on July 14, says that the elections coming weeks after the Lok Sabha results were significant as they indicated the current standing of the leading parties in various belts in seven states. The bypoll results giving the Congress and TMC four seats each, the AAP and DMK one each, and the BJP just two were a surprise, the daily says. Talking about the bypolls for three Himachal Pradesh seats, it says the Congress would be enthused about bagging two, including Dehra, where its candidate was Kamlesh Thakur, the wife of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, who defeated the BJP’s Hoshyar Singh. “In Himachal, the Congress also bagged the Nalagarh seat but could not win Hamirpur. The BJP won from Madhya Pradesh’s Amarwara, although the Congress may take heart that it lost the seat with a narrow margin,” the edit states.

“In the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP’s inability to retain the Ayodhya (Faizabad) seat had buoyed the INDIA alliance. Now, in the BJP-ruled Uttarakhand the party failed to wrest Badrinath from the Congress, which also bagged the Manglaur seat. The AAP retained Jalandhar West by defeating the BJP candidate. In Tamil Nadu’s Vikravandi, the DMK trounced the NDA ally PMK with a massive margin,” the daily notes. The TMC’s sweep in Bengal’s four seats is a pointer that there has not been any dip in CM Mamata Banerjee’s popularity. The BJP may draw solace from the point that in all these seats, its candidates finished runners-up as the Congress-Left combine’s candidates were again routed.

SIASAT

Referring to the Narendra Modi government’s decision to observe June 25 — the day the Emergency was imposed on the country in 1975 by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi — as “Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas”, the Hyderabad-based Siasat, in its July 13 editorial, writes that instead of resolving people’s current problems and focusing on good governance, the government remains intent on cornering the Congress. After the constitution of the new Lok Sabha following the elections, the government has launched a new innings, with the Budget Session of Parliament set to start soon, it says, adding: “The need of the hour is to improve the plight of the people by providing an effective and transparent administration. The rampant leaks of papers in exam after exam have put the future of the youth on the line. The incidents of lynchings are again on the rise. The priority of the government must be on ensuring harmony and peace rather than playing politics.”

The daily points out that the Congress and other INDIA parties had fought the Lok Sabha polls on the plank of “Save the Constitution”, latching on to the BJP’s “400 paar” pitch. “This created resonance among the people, who feared that the BJP would change the Constitution after securing such a brute majority,” it says, adding that the BJP realises that its prospects were hurt by the Opposition’s Constitution-centric campaign. “So the ruling party is now raking up the Emergency, with both PM Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah targeting the Congress.”

The editorial says several questions arise out of the Centre’s decision about June 25. Its notification has come in July. “Why did the Modi government not do it in its first two terms,” the edit asks. “Parliament has witnessed several moves in contravention of the constitutional norms in recent years. Many crucial Bills have been pushed through without any discussions. Over 100 MPs were suspended in a single Session,” the edit says. “And then, there is the question about the constitutional rights of the country’s minorities, which have been routinely undermined over the last 10 years.”

Reeling from its lacklustre performance in the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP is resorting to the Constitution to turn the tables, says the daily. “Emergency is indeed a blot in the history of the Independent India. But it was perpetrated many years ago. The BJP has also been in power for multiple terms since then. Clearly, it has felt the need to mark the day now for cynical politics.”

SIASAT

Highlighting factionalism and infighting besetting the ruling Congress in Karnataka, Siasat, in its editorial column ‘Fikr-o-Nazr (Reflection and Insight)’ on July 12, writes that the party’s dismal performance in the Lok Sabha elections in the state has fuelled the power struggle between the camps of CM Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM and state party president D K Shivakumar. “Both the factions have continued to indulge in the game of one-upmanship. Meanwhile, a Vokkaliga seer, Chandrashekharanatha Swami, has batted for Shivakumar (a prominent Vokkaliga face) as the CM, urging Siddaramaiah to make way for his deputy now. This has further upset Siddaramaiah’s supporters,” the edit piece says. “In the Lok Sabha polls, the Congress leaders fought unitedly, even as the implementation of its five guarantees also made an impact. But the party still failed to clinch the seats in the Vokkaliga-dominated Old Mysuru region, where it had put up an impressive show in the Assembly polls.”

Meanwhile, the pitch for more Deputy CMs has again been made by some Congress leaders in a bid to rein in Shivakumar, the daily notes. Such a demand has been made intermittently after the party’s return to power in the state in May last year. Minister K N Rajanna, a Siddaramaiah ally, has demanded that a leader each from the Lingayat, SC/STs and minorities should be made deputy CM, the edit says, adding that he has also expressed his interest in replacing Shivakumar as the state Congress chief. There are also indications that after 30 months of Siddaramaiah’s tenure, the demand would be made for Shivakumar’s elevation to the CM’s post for the next 30 months as part of the rotational CM formula, it says. “However, Shivakumar’s position has weakened after the Lok Sabha polls that saw even his younger brother D K Suresh losing from his Bengaluru Rural seat. Now, the upcoming three Assembly bypolls would be another test for the Congress in the state.”