As both Houses of Parliament remain paralysed amid the continuing standoff between the government and the Opposition, the second half of the Budget Session may turn out to be a washout. A sidebar to the conflict between the two sides is the widening of fissures within the Opposition ranks over the leadership of the Congress and Rahul. These developments are dominating the pages of the Urdu dailies as they bring their readers up to speed with their twists and turns.
The editorial notes that while addressing various events in the UK Rahul had stuck to his allegation that the Opposition’s voice is being silenced in India under the current regime. “By not letting Rahul speak in the House, the ruling side is reinforcing his charge,” it says. “There is nothing in the remarks Rahul made abroad that could be labelled anti-India. It has already been pointed out that during his foreign visits PM Modi had made similarly critical remarks too.”
The editorial says the Treasury benches seem to be bent on stonewalling a debate on the Adani issue. “This could be a bid to deflect attention so that the demand for a JPC probe is shot down,” it says. “However, in this standoff the advantage is with the Congress and Rahul, as the BJP is making its play trickier.”
SIASAT
In its editorial on March 19, the Hyderabad-based Siasat says that while the ruling BJP seems to have stepped up its campaign against the Opposition parties in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, especially moving to gun for Rahul Gandhi, the Opposition’s attempts to create a joint front against the BJP appear to be faltering. Although the Congress and Rahul himself have tried to downplay the question of their leadership of an Opposition amalgam, the BJP has managed to fuel suspicion in some regional parties that Rahul may emerge as the face of their front, the editorial states.
The signals sent by West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee and SP president and ex-UP CM Akhilesh Yadav following their meeting in Kolkata have reflected the cracks in the Opposition unity that would lead to brightening of the BJP’s prospects in the 2024 polls, the daily says.
In a snub to the Congress, the TMC leadership and Akhilesh have announced their plan to remain equidistant from the BJP and the grand old party. “A section of the Opposition wants the Congress to lead their ranks against the BJP. Bihar CM and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar is at its forefront. However, another Opposition section comprising of leaders like Mamata, Akhilesh and Telangana CM and BRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao are batting for an anti-BJP front sans the Congress,” the edit notes. After her party’s dismal performance in Meghalaya and Tripura Assembly polls, Mamata had announced that she will go solo in the upcoming polls. But after her meeting with Akhilesh, the TMC has made it clear that she would be engaged in forging a non-BJP, non-Congress alliance, which may even get Odisha CM and BJD chief Naveen Patnaik on board.
“Although several Opposition parties including the NCP, Shiv Sena (UBT), DMK, JD(U), RJD, JMM want the Congress’s inclusion in an anti-BJP front, the stand of major regional players like Mamata and Akhilesh have dealt a blow to the bid for a larger Opposition unity, which may undermine their efforts to defeat the BJP in 2024,” the edit says. “In this scenario, the Opposition should review the blueprint for their future course of action.”
ROZNAMA RASHTRIYA SAHARA
Referring to Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma’s remarks made while addressing a large gathering in Belagavi in the poll-bound Karnataka that he intends to shut down all madrasas in his state, the multi-edition Roznama Rashtriya Sahara, in its editorial on March 19, writes that Sarma is among those
leaders who remain in the news owing to their various comments. Sarma told the Belagavi event that he has closed 600 madrasas in Assam, but his intention is to shut all madrasas because they are not needed in “New India” that needs schools, colleges and universities, the editorial says. “If Sarma has made these comments in view of the upcoming Karnataka polls it is another matter, but in a democratic country like India he has no right to decide what all the people need.”
Underlining that PM Modi talks about “Sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka vishwas”, the editorial says CM Sarma’s remarks are at variance with it. “Sarma seems to be unaware of the role played by madrasas in strengthening India. They have played a key role in ensuring subsistence of many poor children, providing them free food and clothes along with education. And they have been ensuring this long before the mid-day meal scheme for school children was launched in the country in 1995,” it states. “Besides religious education, these madrasas should ensure modern education too so that it could benefit all children… The point also remains that less than five per cent of Indian Muslim children are enrolled in madrasas.”
Noting that India’s literacy rate as per 2011 Census was 74 per cent, the daily asks Sarma about his plans to impart education to the rest of the population. A 2021 Unesco report said that India needs 11.16 lakh additional teachers to meet the current shortfall and that there are over 1.1 lakh single-teacher schools in the country, it says. “In December 2022, Assam education minister Ranoj Pegu had admitted lack of teachers as well as basic facilities like toilet, water and electricity in the state’s schools. In Assam, 2,979 schools are run by single-teacher, 15,161 are two teacher schools, and 8,207 are three-teacher schools,” the edit says. “Sarma should focus on solving these problems affecting Assam’s schools rather than targeting madrasas.”
BJP MPs raise slogans during a protest against Congress MP Rahul Gandhi during the Budget Session of Parliament. (PTI) 
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