Gujarat drama over Lokayukta dominates newspapers today

This morning, it’s the Gujarat drama over the Lokayukta that is centre stage. The judge who was appointed to adjudicate on the appointment of Ramesh Mehta as the Lokayukta said that Narendra Modi was ‘not only not serious about appointing an independent Lokayukta but was hostile to the primacy of the chief justice’, reports Indian Express. The paper saw fit to make the Lokayukta story the second lead on the front page.

The Times of India makes it the lead story, the headline quoting the judge referring to a ‘spiteful’ Modi. The paper has a graphic which highlights six incidents of alleged corruption in Gujarat which the opposition wants probed.

The Hindustan Times sees less merit in the Lokayukta story, with a 100 word front page story linking to the full story on an inside page. Unlike the Times of India and the Indian Express treatment of the story, HT takes a more soft view on the damage to Modi by the judgment.

Asian Age makes the Modi Story the lead, with a headline that says ‘Setback for Modi in lokayukta case’. The story begins by calling the judgment ‘a major setback to Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi’.

Overall, the headlines in the papers this morning are decidedly of the view that the judgment is a blow to Modi.

Hindustan Times’ story on the continuing saga of the date of birth issue of India’s army chief, General VK Singh, is the best of the lot when it comes to making clear the nuances of the dispute. The crux lies in the date of birth as filled in in the form for admission to the NDA – which Singh claims was made in error. HT quotes the UPSC form which says that “the statements made in the form are true to the best of my knowledge and belief” and that it was binding on candidates to fill in the form in their own handwriting. If this is true, then General Singh might find the court decision go against him. Times of India’s focus is on the government view on the messy battle, quoting the minister of state as saying that this was an ‘unhealthy precedent. Asian Age’s view is similar, while the Indian Express says that Pranab Mukherjee had ‘assured’ Singh a face-saving exit. The assurance was not adhered to, leading to the face-off in the Supreme Court.

Finally, we come to Salman Rushdie and the first positive news in this context.

The Hindustan Times says that the central government has asked the Delhi and Rajasthan governments to protect Rushdie and ‘has advised the state police to make adequate security arrangements to protect Rushdie’. The Times of India speaks of a new threat to Rushdie in the headline, with the centre’s advice to the state governments buried in the story. Asian Age’s treatment is similar, while the Indian Express doesn’t believe the story is front page material. Interesting that the dominant stories in the papers pertain to law or law and order…