From the Urdu Press: ‘Do Pawar remarks hint at a churn in Oppn politics?’, ‘Modi-Rahul debate would boost democracy’

As polling in the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha elections ended, it marked the wrapping up of voting in 379 seats out of the total 543, or more than two-thirds of the House. The trend of a dipping voter turnout has however continued. While covering these headline news, the Urdu dailies have now turned their focus on the remaining three phases. In the meantime, they spotlighted Arvind Kejriwal’s dramatic entry into the campaign trail following his release from Tihar Jail on bail, sensing in it a booster for the AAP as well as the Opposition INDIA alliance.

INQUILAB

Referring to NCP founder Sharad Pawar’s statement, made in an interview with The Indian Express, that in the next few years several regional parties will move closer to, or even merge with, the Congress, the New Delhi edition of Inquilab, in its editorial on May 11, writes that a churn in Opposition politics has begun in the country. In their campaign for the INDIA bloc’s joint candidates in the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress leaders and workers are canvassing along with their counterparts in the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) in Mumbai while doing the same with those from the AAP in Delhi, the editorial says. “This is a paradigm shift in Opposition politics that mirrors the 1977 model. This should have happened a long time ago in the larger interest of our country and people, but better late than never.”

The daily states that Pawar’s words about regional parties gravitating to the Congress in the coming months outlines the shape of new politics. “Pawar is a seasoned political heavyweight. His statements cannot be taken lightly,” it says. There had been some talks earlier about the NCP’s merger with the Congress, but Pawar was then himself not keen about it, it