NEW DELHI, 15 May — Decisive verdict of the electorate in the assembly elections has laid aside ambiguity about political speculations entertained earlier. Newspapers headlines present a stark picture of the phenomenon success of some parties spelling a miserable defeat for others.
Spanning across six columns, The Times of India headlines read: — Its Jayalalitha, absolutely, in Tamil Nadu. The subheadings read: — Congress storms back to power in Kerala, Left stands firm in Bengal.
Jaya’s success dominates the Asian Age headlines too: — Jaya sweeps, Mamata weeps. Two subheadings read: — Poor showing by BJP to weaken National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, Dejected Didi (Mamata Bannerjee) sits quietly at home.
According to Hindu, it has been: — Landslide for AIADMK, Congress wrests Kerala.
The Hindustan Times spells out: — Landslide for Jaya, heartbreak for Mamata. This has been put in a more symbolic manner by The Pioneer: — Amma’s Day, Didi’s night. (Jayalalitha is popularly known as Amma).
The Indian Express headlines sums up the scenario as: — In anti-incumbency wave, Budha smiles. While the DMK, LDF and AGP have been pushed out of power in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Assam, respectively; in West Bengal the Left Front has returned to power for the record sixth time with Budhadeb Bhattacharya as the chief minister.
For a change, yesterday’s page one stands dominated by how the Congress and the regional parties have fared. With regards the main women in the fray, Amma and Didi, stress is on the former’s comments and latter’s silence. The Hindu headline quotes Jaya, “I was voted to become CM.” Eighth column of Indian Express begins with: — Amma celebrates Mothers Day, “People of Tamil Nadu consider me their mother, so I think it is a fitting victory. I will prove to be a good mother.” Regarding Didi, the paper reads:- “Ship sinking, Mamata at Sea.” According to the Statesman: — Left gets it right, Mamata left out.
Dismal performance of BJP and its ally AGP in Assam, where Congress has won absolute majority, has been painted by Hindu headlines as: — AGP-BJP combine gets a drubbing.
The papers have given importance to Congress stalwarts comments too. According to HT headlines:— Polls to hit Govt: Sonia. The piece quotes the Congress President Sonia Gandhi, “Certainly, the election results are in a way a reflection on the central governments working.” Going beyond her comments, the Statesman headline reads: — A testing time for Sonia.
BJPs reaction has been confined to inner pages by most papers except the Statesman and Pioneer. Headlines in the Statesman point out: — BJP fails to explain reversals, while that of the Pioneer takes note: — NDA’s comfort zone has shrunk a bit.
