From the Urdu Press: ‘Is Rahul Yatra enough for Congress’, ‘Only two leaders focused clearly on LS polls: Modi, Nitish’

SIASAT

Referring to Rahul Gandhi’s second leg of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, which would travel from Manipur in the East to Mumbai in the West between January 14 and March 20, the Hyderabad-based Siasat, in its editorial on December 30, notes that the march, called Bharat Nyay Yatra, will cover over 6,000 km, spanning 85 districts across 14 states. “When Rahul had embarked on his Bharat Jodo Yatra (during September 2022-January 2023), it had evoked a remarkable response from the public at large. Many people, including several prominent faces, had joined it in belts it had traversed,” the editorial says. “In the wake of the Yatra, the Congress won the elections in Karnataka and Telangana. However, the party lost the Hindi heartland states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to the BJP.”

The daily writes that Rahul is setting off on another Yatra as part of the Congress’s public outreach in the hope that it would create a resonance in various regions, including those that were not part of its first leg, ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. “The Congress is seeing a revival in the South. The party is ruling Karnataka and Telangana. It is a leading player in Kerala. In Tamil Nadu, it has a strong alliance with the ruling DMK. And, the party is now making attempts to regain lost ground in Andhra Pradesh,” the edit states. “However, in the North, the Congress continues to be in dire straits, with the morale of its rank and file remaining dampened. Only a Yatra would not ensure its turnaround. The party has a significant vote share, but needs a proper strategy and a robust mechanism to increase it to a level that votes would result in seats — only then will it be able to fight the BJP.”

The editorial says that Rahul has been making efforts to connect with people and drum up support for the Congress. “But these efforts need to yield results for the party, which must work out an effective roadmap and a narrative to counter the BJP. Other senior party leaders must also step up for this uphill task.”

URDU TIMES

Commenting on Nitish Kumar’s move to formally take over the reins of the JD(U), the Mumbai-based Urdu Times, in its editorial on December 31, writes: “It seems only two political personalities have been engaged in drawing up their game plan for the Lok Sabha polls with utmost seriousness and purpose: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.” The daily says that while preparing for the upcoming battle against the Modi-led BJP, Nitish has taken charge of his party as its president, replacing Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh, who proposed Nitish’s name for the post at the JD(U) national executive.

“There has been a buzz that Nitish would hand over the chief ministership to his deputy and RJD ally Tejaswi Yadav and plunge into national politics to strengthen the Opposition INDIA alliance,” the editorial states. “Nitish is considered a PM face in the Opposition ranks, although he has played it down. This is evident though that he is going to be a pivotal INDIA leader in the elections,” it says. “Although every Opposition leader talks about working to defeat the BJP, it has been Nitish who has demonstrated sagacity in consistently making moves on the ground in this direction. He played a key role in ensuring the creation of the INDIA front.”

Secondly, Nitish came up with the caste census issue and followed it up by carrying out a caste survey in Bihar and releasing its report, the edit says. “The BJP also cannot really target Nitish. He has a clean image. So, the ED cannot be unleashed against him. His son is not in politics. Among the regional Opposition leaders, he is the only face whose plan against the BJP stretches beyond his own state,” it says. “Nitish had held several portfolios as a Union minister too. His another advantage stems from the fact that he is from the Hindi heartland, so he is better placed to lock horns with the BJP.”

SALAR

In its leader titled “2024 aur naye azaim (2024 and new resolutions)”, the Bengaluru-based Salar says that besides the surge in new Covid JN.1 sub-variant cases, the challenge of the Israel-Hamas war looms large over the world as it enters 2024. “In the 12 weeks of the Israeli bombardment of Gaza, more than 21,000 Palestinians have lost their lives. Even hospitals and places of worship have not been spared in this blitz, which has displaced the entire 23 lakh population of the besieged enclave,” the daily writes. “In the name of mounting its retaliation against the Hamas fighters’ October 7 attack, Israel seems to be bent on carrying out a genocide of Palestinian people.”

The editorial states that the United States has been providing arms and ammunition to Israel to support its war against Hamas, thereby “patronising Israeli crimes against Palestinians”. “It is another matter that the Joe Biden administration keeps issuing platitudes about its commitment to global peace and human rights,” the edit says, adding that Israel is expanding the arc of its occupation in Palestine. “The world might be worried over this war, but no power, including the United Nations, has been able to put an end to the Israeli aggression,” it says. Russia’s war against Ukraine, which started in early 2022, also continues to rage, it notes. “Ensuring the cessation of both these hostilities would be the formidable challenge facing the international community in 2024.”

On the domestic front, the biggest event will be the general elections, the edit says. “The ruling BJP has ramped up its preparations for the 2024 polls. The consecration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya will take place on January 22,” it notes, adding that the BJP has been going all out to take political advantage of this event in the same way it had extracted mileage out of the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute in the 1990s. The BJP hopes it will return to power riding on the Temple plank again, the edit says. This would have implications for the country’s democracy, but every year comes with its own mixed bag of challenges and opportunities, it adds.