SC ruling on Chandigarh mayoral poll could have consequences for EVMs, says Urdu press

SC ruling on Chandigarh mayoral poll could have consequences for EVMs, says Urdu press

New Delhi: The Supreme Court’s ruling on the Chandigarh mayoral election could have “far-reaching consequences” for electronic voting machines (EVMs), an editorial in Siasat said this week, hailing the top court’s decision to strike down the results of the controversial poll held last month.

Earlier this week, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud held that the presiding officer, Anil Masih, had invalidated eight votes in favour of Kuldeep Kumar ‘Tita’ — a candidate jointly fielded by the Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress.

In its editorial on 21 February — a day after the ruling — Siasat said that the Supreme Court’s decision had helped cement confidence in India’s democratic processes.

“Although today’s decision by the Supreme Court is limited to the Chandigarh mayor’s post, it has led to the expectation that it could have far-reaching consequences,” it said. “There have been doubts in several quarters about the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) in the country. The public is concerned about the integrity of their votes. Although the Election Commission (of India) has consistently dismissed these concerns, it has yet to take concrete steps to address them. No comprehensive policy has been formulated,” the editorials said.

Other news that kept the Urdu press abuzz this week were the farmers’ protests, the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) raids on former Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satyapal Malik, and the seat-sharing talks between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh.

Here’s a roundup of all that made the front pages and editorials of the Urdu press.

INDIA bloc

The seat-sharing talks in the Opposition INDIA bloc kept all three Urdu newspapers — Roznama Rashtriya Sahara, Inquilab, and Siasat  — busy this week.

The Congress has been holding seat-sharing talks with two allies — with the Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh and with AAP in Delhi, Gujarat, and Haryana.

In its editorial on 22 February, Siasat said that the alliance between the Congress and Akhilesh Yadav’s SP in Uttar Pradesh could counter the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) surge in the state. The BJP’s tally, which stood at 62 in the 2019 general election, could go down this time, the editorial said.

At 80, Uttar Pradesh sends the most MPs to Parliament and is considered an electorally significant state — a fact highlighted by the editorial. A loss of at least two-three dozen seats for the BJP in UP could halt its momentum, it said.

“If the BJP has to be stopped from winning a third consecutive time, it’s necessary to reduce its seats in Uttar Pradesh,” it said. “Signs of damage to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) are also emerging in Bihar. In light of this situation, the BJP has once again brought Nitish Kumar into its camp. However, this decision could prove detrimental to both the BJP and Bihar (Chief Minister) Nitish Kumar.”

Meanwhile, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress — both former allies of Nitish Kumar and his Janata Dal (United) — could benefit from the situation, provided they have a structured plan in place to engage the public instead of getting entangled in the “politics of seat distribution”, the editorial said.

Sahara’s editorial on 20 February — a day before the Congress and the SP announced they had finalised seat-sharing in UP — said that Yadav and his party had made it clear that Congress could not ask for more than 15 seats in the state.

It also implied that news reports cannot always be relied upon, saying that the seat-sharing arrangement came despite talk of fissures in the INDIA bloc.

“Agreement has been reached on seat-sharing. There (appears to be) no hesitation when it comes to the allocation of seats. So can it be assumed that the inclusion of the RLD (Rashtriya Lok Dal) in the NDA has changed the situation?” it asked.

Previously an ally of the SP in Uttar Pradesh, the RLD joined the NDA earlier this month.

Siasat’s editorial that day, meanwhile, questioned the claims of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) about its success in Bihar. It also likened the ruling alliance’s frequent targeting of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav to its criticism of India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru.

The focus of electoral politics should be on addressing public issues instead of “noise-making”, it said, also mocking the BJP for ignoring RJD leader and Lalu’s son Tejashwi Yadav’s growing political reputation.

CBI raids on Satyapal Malik 

The CBI’s raids earlier this week on the premises linked to Jammu and Kashmir’s ex-governor Satyapal Malik as part of its ongoing probe into corruption allegations in a hydel power project in the now Union territory also received prominent coverage.

Malik was the last governor of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

In its editorial, Sahara said that Opposition parties have often accused central agencies of threats and intimidation. The raids on Malik are the latest example, the editorial said,

“Satyapal Malik is currently unwell and undergoing treatment at a hospital, yet his residence was raided by the CBI,” it said, adding that Malik has frequently been critical of the Narendra Modi-led NDA government.

Farmers’ protest

The ongoing farmers’ protest continued to draw the interest of the Urdu press this week. In its editorial on 22 February, Sahara remarked that it’s beginning to exact a toll. This came after one Punjab farmer died of his injuries Wednesday after a protest march at Khanauri near Haryana turned violent.

“The deceased has been identified as Shubh Karan Singh of Bathinda, Punjab, who succumbed to injuries at Rajindra Hospital in Patiala. A rubber bullet hit him above the ear, causing his death. These protesting farmers want to go to Delhi, but the Haryana Police are stopping them,” the editorial said, adding that farmers have also accused the police of firing with .32 and .12 bore weapons.

“The situation is similar on the borders adjoining Delhi,” the editorial said.

Maratha reservation

Urdu newspapers also prominently covered the Maharashtra Assembly passing a bill granting 10 percent reservation for the state’s influential Maratha caste group in jobs and educational institutions earlier this week.

In its editorial on 22 February, Inquilab said that Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde was a Maratha leader himself but it is political interests that still govern the government’s decisions.

“This government hastily passed this bill because of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections so that Manoj Jarange’s agitation could end,” it said, referring to Manoj Jarange-Patil, the activist leader leading the latest round of Maratha reservation protest.

Patil — “the strongest voice of the Maratha resurgence” — has rejected the bill saying it would not benefit all Marathas, it said.

(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)