From the Urdu Press: ‘Uttarakhand UCC to test waters before national push’, ‘BJP moves leave INDIA splintered’

The daily writes that the BJP has twin political objectives for bringing this UCC. “First, it is aimed at polarisation, for which the BJP never misses any opportunity — from talaq to hijab to CAA to renaming of towns and stations. There are many such examples, with the Uttarakhand UCC being the latest,” it states. “This was done just ahead of the Lok Sabha polls so that BJP leaders could make the pitch in their campaign that the party has fulfilled its UCC promise in Uttarakhand and would replicate it in the country.”

The editorial says the BJP’s second objective could be to see the reactions the Uttarakhand UCC would evoke among political parties, various organisations and civil society activists. The plan could be to test the waters in one state before pushing it across the country, it says, adding that the ruling party would also like to see the response of courts in UCC matters now. “Although courts have called for the need to have a UCC, whether this legislation stands the test of various legal and constitutional parameters is to be seen,” the edit says. “Its various provisions appear to be violative of key fundamental rights like freedom of religion and privacy.”

SIASAT

Referring to the turmoil in the Opposition INDIA bloc, the Hyderabad-based Siasat, in its leader on February 10, writes that a realignment of political ties and equations is taking place before the Lok Sabha polls, with the BJP firming up its position. “The INDIA alliance is falling apart, with the BJP playing its role to ensure it. The BJP is now pitching for ‘400 paar (winning 400-plus seats)’ and is taking all steps to pull off even this target,” it says.

The Opposition alliance had run into trouble soon after its inception, with the relations between its constituents beset with suspicions and misgivings, the editorial states. Pointing to its key architect Nitish Kumar crossing over to the BJP-led NDA and the splits in the Shiv Sena and NCP, the edit says. “All this is part of the BJP’s expansionist game plan.”

The daily states that PM Modi announced the Bharat Ratna for BJP veteran L K Advani, the face of the Ram Temple movement, to further consolidate the party’s Hindutva base. He later also declared the Bharat Ratna for former PMs Chaudhary Charan Singh and P V Narasimha Rao, which also had political objectives, says the daily. “Charan Singh’s grandson and RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary, an ally of the INDIA bloc, is now jumping ship to join the NDA. He has been showering praises on the Modi government. The RLD’s exit would leave SP chief Akhilesh Yadav in the cold, whose relations with the Congress are already strained,” the editorial says.

“Similarly, by awarding the country’s highest civilian honour to Narasimha Rao, the BJP dispensation is looking to woo the voters in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, even as it is moving to ally with the TDP,” it says. “The BJP has succeeded in splintering INDIA allies in key states like UP, Bihar and Maharashtra. Whether people approve it or not will be determined by the poll outcome, but the BJP has left nothing to chance to firm up the political realignment it has triggered.”

ROZNAMA RASHTRIYA SAHARA

Highlighting the face-off between the BJP and Congress over the handling of the economy, the multi-edition Roznama Rashtriya Sahara, in its February 10 editorial, writes that the trading of criticism between the government and the Opposition is a sign of a healthy democracy. “But when such exchanges degenerate into animosity aimed at maligning each other, it turns into bitter hostility,” it says, adding that the Modi government sprang a surprise by bringing a White Paper on the alleged mismanagement of the economy by the Congress-led UPA government under economist Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The Congress also released a ‘Black Paper’ to rebut this and mount a counter-attack on the Modi government’s alleged mishandling of the economy.

The government’s White Paper, tabled in Parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, stated that the economy had been in dire straits during the UPA regime, the editorial says. The economy grew rapidly before 2008 due to the reforms undertaken by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government, and it become “stagnant” later, said the White Paper, the editorial says, adding that the document reflected a bid to score political points and was of a piece with the Modi dispensation’s policy of targeting the Congress and the Nehru-Gandhi family.

The daily says the Congress’s Black Paper targeted the Modi government for its alleged failures on multiple fronts, citing unemployment, price rise and crony capitalism. “The Congress document accused the Modi government of failing various sections including farmers, labourers and women. It says Modi had pledged 2 crore jobs annually besides doubling farmers’ income by 2022. It also points out fiscal discrimination against Opposition-ruled states,” it says, adding that both camps have brought out these documents to run down the other’s track record. “It would have been better if the NDA government had released a White Paper on its accomplishments over the last 10 years rather than going back to the past to find faults in the UPA’s functioning.”