For the last few days, the rape and murder of a veterinary doctor Disha at Shamshabad on the outskirts of Hyderabad and the subsequent killing of the four accused in an alleged encounter with the police have been making headlines in the media across the country.
But on Tuesday, YSR Congress party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy got the headlines changed and attracted the attention of the nation.
He mooted a stringent legislation to be introduced in the assembly in a day or two, seeking to award death sentence to rape-and-murder accused within 21 days.
“Death penalty within 21 days,” screamed the headline in Sakshi. Stating that his government would bring in a “revolutionary” bill in the assembly on Wednesday, Jagan said it should create a sense of panic among the rapists that they would have to face the death if they indulge in such crimes.
Andhra Jyothy also took Jagan’s statement as second lead with a headline that the rapists would get instant punishment.
Eenadu also carried the same story as a banner, but with a different lead and different headline: “Hats off to KCR.” Obviously, the daily wanted to give an impression that Jagan, too, wants to follow KCR to deliver instant punishment to the rape accused, but through a 21-day legal process.
The unrest among the people on onion crisis in Andhra Pradesh is yet another story that interests the readers.
While Eenadu carried the version of the TDP on the onion crisis and the party MLAs coming to the assembly wearing onion garlands, Andhra Jyothy focused more on the people struggling to get onions and the death of an old man dying in queue for onions.
Sakshi, however, highlighted Jagan’s statement as to how the Andhra Pradesh government is the only state in the country that was making arrangements for supply of onions for Rs 25 a kg at Rythu Bazars.
The passage of the controversial Citizenship Amendment Bill in Lok Sabha is yet another major story that was given considerable space in all the three major Telugu dailies.
Eenadu carried it as a prominent story in the bottom half of the page, Andhra Jyothy and Sakshi took the story as their flyers.
Interestingly, Eenadu highlighted the fact that YSR Congress party supported the bill with a view to maintaining cordial relationship with the Centre, while Telangana Rashtra Samithi strongly opposed the same.
The resounding victory of the BJP in the by-elections to 15 assembly seats in Karnataka was also given significant coverage by the Telugu media.
A stable government of the BJP in Karnataka will definitely have an impact on the neighbouring Telangana and also to some extent in Andhra, say analysts.
As usual, Eenadu and Andhra Jyothy carried a couple of stories that would needle the YSRC government. Eenadu carried a report of the Union water resources ministry stating that the Centre would release funds to Polavaram only if the state followed certain conditions.
On the other hand, Andhra Jyothy carried the first lead story on how chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy entered into a confrontation with the Centre by appointing senior IPS officer Manish Kumar Sinha as the state intelligence chief, much against the interests of the Union home ministry.
The report also quoted some other instances of Jagan taking decisions that would irritate the Centre. Needless to say, the objective of the news report is only to widen the gap between YSRC and BJP and create an impression that all is not well between the state and the Centre.
All in all, there is some spicy stuff to enjoy in the day’s major newspapers!