Dealing a blow to the Opposition INDIA bloc in Maharashtra, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) has declared that it will go solo in the coming local body elections. Over the week NCP(SP) chief Sharad Pawar lauded the RSS’ role in helping the BJP clinch the state Assembly polls, while his daughter Supriya Sule and Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut heaped praises on CM Devendra Fadnavis. In the poll-bound Delhi, the INDIA allies AAP and Congress are also targeting each other while taking on the BJP. Tracking such developments, some of the Urdu dailies read in them an existential crisis gripping the Opposition alliance. Urdu Press Commenting on the war of words between the incumbent AAP and the principal Opposition BJP on the eve of the Delhi Assembly polls over AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal’s “luxurious” residence at Delhi’s 6, Flag Staff Road, where he stayed earlier when he was the CM, the Mumbai-based Urdu Times, in its January 9 editorial, notes that the row has been fuelled by a recent Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report which details cost escalation in the repair and renovation of the house. “CAG is a body which changed the politic of the country some years ago,” the editorial states, adding that then CAG Vinod Rai had, in his 2010 report, alleged a 2G spectrum licence “scam” involving a “presumptive loss” of Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the exchequer. “CAG Vinod Rai’s report had played a key role in sealing the fate of the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government,” the daily says, pointing out that after several years of investigations, the case fizzled out due to lack of evidence leading to acquittal of all the accused. “It is another matter that Rai continued to be rewarded with various posts under the BJP dispensation even after he demitted office as the CAG.” The editorial says Kejriwal had launched his political innings after latching on to such CAG reports on various alleged scams involving the then UPA regime. “Today, a CAG report on his erstwhile bungalow, dubbed by BJP as ‘Sheesh Mahal’, has come to haunt Kejriwal. CAG Girish Chandra Murmu signed off on this report just a week before he demitted office (on November 20, 2024). Murmu has been close to the Modi dispensation. He was also appointed as the first Lt Governor of Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019,” it notes. “Now, the BJP, in its poll campaign, is raking up the CAG report against Kejriwal, pointing to huge cost spent on the CM House and its multiple items ranging from marble stones to chandeliers to a mini-bar. Hitting back, the AAP has flagged expenses incurred on PM Modi’s suits, shoes and his aircraft. The BJP has even released a video of Kejriwal’s erstwhile bungalow,” the daily says. The AAP had taken the plunge into politics claiming that it would end the VVIP culture in Indian politics, it notes, adding that Kejriwal had even claimed that he would not take a bungalow or a car after assuming a public office. He had also once targeted former Congress CM Sheila Dikshit over multiple air-conditioners installed in her house. “Kejriwal’s bungalow appears to be like the house of any other CM. Some times, there are reports of massive expenditure being incurred on revamp of some of these bungalows. However, there had perhaps not been any CAG reports earlier on the renovation of any other CM House,” the edit says. “The entire play is about the Delhi polls for which the BJP is going all out to put Kejriwal in the dock. The BJP has done the same in its campaign against other Opposition leaders in their states. It is to be seen how activist-turned-AAP chief takes up the gauntlet thrown by the BJP.” Sisasat Flagging the row triggered by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s claim that in the wake of the Covid pandemic most incumbent governments, including the one in India, lost the elections in 2024, the Hyderabad-based Siasat, in its editorial on January 14, points out that Zuckerberg, in a podcast interview, highlighted the erosion of people’s trust in their governments across the globe in the post-Covid scenario due to various factors like inflation or economic policies or the way in which they dealt with the Covid crisis. Zuckerberg then went on to claim that consequently most incumbents, including in India, lost the polls, which he said was a “global phenomenon”. The editorial notes that Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has countered Zuckerberg and called his statement “factually incorrect” while asserting that the people of India reaffirmed their trust in the BJP-led NDA led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi whose “decisive third-term victory is a testament to good governance”. Vaishnaw also called out the Meta chief for indulging in “misinformation”. However, the daily says, the BJP had set a target of crossing 400 seats in the Lok Sabha polls, but stopped well short of a simple majority by getting 240 seats. The point remains, it says, that the BJP depends critically on its allies like the TDP and the JD(U) for remaining in power at the Centre. “A plunge in the BJP’s tally and a significant increase in the INDIA bloc’s numbers indicated some degrees of public resentment against the incumbent,” the edit states. “The Opposition parties had also lodged complaints alleging various electoral irregularities including those related to the functioning of electronic voting machines (EVMs). This had dented public trust in the conduct of elections, which must be addressed by looking into such complaints impartially.”