While tracking the Assembly elections in Jammu & Kashmir and Haryana, the Urdu dailies zeroed in on two major political stories that made headlines over the week. First, the Narendra Modi Cabinet’s decision to approve the Kovind panel’s report to set in motion the proposal for “One Nation, One Election”, which has already touched off a firestorm. And second, Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal’s move to get party colleague Atishi to replace him as the CM, which has stirred up Delhi politics right ahead of the Assembly polls. INQUILAB Referring to the change of guard in the AAP-led Delhi government, the New Delhi edition of Inquilab, in its September 20 editorial, says that while stepping down from the chief ministerial position just after his release from prison on bail granted by the Supreme Court was Arvind Kejriwal’s “first masterstroke”, naming Atishi as his successor is his “second masterstroke”. “Kejriwal did not quit in the face of the BJP’s strident demand for his resignation. By doing so on his own volition, he wrested this weapon from the BJP,” the daily writes. “By elevating Atishi to the CM’s post, Kejriwal has given a new leadership face to Delhi, someone who is grounded, connected to people, articulate and highly-educated. A leader who has also been engaged in various public campaigns as an activist. Going by her track record as a legislator and minister besides her stance on various issues, she does not come across as a first-time MLA.” The editorial points out that following the long incarceration of the AAP’s top brass, including Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh, in the Delhi excise policy case, Atishi was among a handful of party leaders who steered it. “Atishi is Delhi’s third woman CM after the BJP’s Sushma Swaraj and the Congress’s Sheila Dikshit. As compared to Swaraj and Dikshit, her political experience is limited, but she would leave no stone unturned to prove her mettle, although with the Delhi Assembly polls just round the corner she has barely any time for it.” The daily says Atishi showed her political acumen in the AAP’s formative years, in 2015, when the party had removed her as a spokesperson due to her perceived proximity to two of its founding members, Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav, who were expelled from it. “Atishi had then shot off a letter to Bhushan and Yadav, accusing them of intransigence in resolving differences with Kejriwal. Later, she joined Sisodia as an advisor to work on the project of improving Delhi’s government schools, which are showcased by the AAP government as part of its key accomplishments,” the editorial notes. It has since been “rise and rise of Atishi”. “Although she lost the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from East Delhi, the AAP fielded her again in the 2020 Assembly polls from Kalkaji, which she won. She then went on to become a minister with multiple portfolios including Finance, Education, Power and PWD. And currently, she is only the second woman CM after West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee,’ the edit adds. URDU TIMES Commenting on the Union Cabinet’s move to approve the report of the high-level committee headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind on the “One Nation, One Election” proposal, the Mumbai-based Urdu Times, in its leader on September 20, writes that “it seems to be a new stunt being conducted by the Modi government”. “This is unprecedented that a former President of India was mandated with the task to head such a committee,” the editorial says. The Kovind panel made its recommendations for holding synchronised Lok Sabha and Assembly polls, followed by municipal and panchayat polls within 100 days, for cost-cutting and expediting development works for good governance, the edit notes. “None of these points is valid,” it says. To conduct simultaneous polls, the Election Commission will require large-scale procurement of EVM and VVPAT machines, which will involve a massive expenditure. The daily states that the argument that rotational polls at the national and state levels disrupt development is also a “specious argument”. “The One Nation, One Election proposal would undermine the country’s federal, democratic polity. Going by the panel’s report, if 2029 is set as the year of its implementation, the tenures of many elected state governments will have to be terminated to ensure synchronicity of the polls,” it says. The point is, says the editorial, there has been a major change in the country’s politics after 2014. “The manner in which the BJP’s Union ministers, led by Prime Minister, hit the campaign trails in every state during their Assembly polls, has never been seen earlier, including the Atal Bihari Vajpayee era,” the edit says. “This excessive focus on campaigning and publicity has turned the BJP into an election machine, which could also be the incumbent party's deflective bid to avoid public accountability for its performance.” SIASAT Commenting on the Supreme Court’s interim order staying demolition of properties, including of those accused of crime, till October 1 without its approval, the Hyderabad-based Siasat, in its editorial on September 19, says the political discourse in the country has undergone a sea-change in recent years. “Earlier, farmer issues, unemployment, inflation, health and law and order used to dominate politics, with the government and the Opposition vying with each other to score political points. Now, they have been replaced by matters like beef, burqa, hijab or Hindu-Muslim issues,” it notes. A few years ago, Uttar Pradesh started bulldozer politics, razing homes or shops of even some protesters to the ground, the editorial says, adding that “this trend subsequently spread to other BJP-ruled states”. “Many such premises were torn down on the ground that they were unauthorised, which begs the question: If these buildings were illegal, then action should also have been taken against the authorities on whose watch they were built in the first place,” the daily says. “Such demolitions were carried out on communal basis. Some leaders did not refrain from glorifying these extra-judicial acts. Despite holding constitutional posts, they did not shy away from using it to define their political identity. Bulldozers were stationed at their election rallies. All this was the consequence of a cynical and prejudiced mindset.” The apex court has always expressed its disapproval of bulldozer justice, the daily says. Now, it has halted all demolitions across the country till October 1, barring unauthorised constructions on public places or roads, it notes. “The top court’s order is a welcome development. It will curb bulldozer politics. It should also lead to introspection among the leaders who used to showcase bulldozer actions as their achievements for political mileage,” the edit says. “States should also review their conduct in light of the apex court’s directions. There is a rule of law in the country – and no one can be allowed to ride roughshod over it.”
