How Newspapers Covered the Mega Rally Anchored by Mamata Banerjee

This is how The Telegraph, The Times of India and other major national dailies reported the ‘mega rally’, day after.

On Sunday – a day after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s ‘Brigade Rally’/’Mega Rally’/Congregation of leaders from across 23 Opposition parties – most major newspapers gave it the pride of place on its front page.

The rally, called by the Bengal CM, saw a multitude of leaders and orators from across the country come together to convince people that a united front would defeat current PM Narendra Modi.

Almost all newspapers ran with a lead photograph of the ‘Mahagatbandhan’ standing with hands entwined and raised in the air. Here’s how newspapers reported the rally:

The Telegraph:

The Telegraph went with the celebratory headline ‘At Brigade Rally, Speeches Soar high But Unity Test Lies Ahead’.

Devadeep Purohit writes of the ‘soaring speeches’, the ‘gracious gestures’, the ‘clever slogans’. He writes, also, of the many leaders who came together to held present a united front against Modi in the upcoming nationwide elections. “People have lost confidence in Modi-Shah,” Purohit quoted Arun Shourie as saying – and the Bengal CM as declaring: “Everyone has come together for the sake of the country”. He mentions the many leaders who wowed the rally crowds, while stating that it was the “oaths of unity” that really made the event stand out.

Purohit talks about how almost all the leaders discussed the agrarian distress that they argued had been “met with indifference by the Modi government” – and also makes note of that fact that no pre-poll alliance or seat-sharing details were discussed.

Hindustan Times:

HT’s headline read ‘At Mega Rally in Kolkata, Opposition Leaders Unite to ‘End BJP Rule’. The report was also accompanied by a photograph of most major leaders at the rally holding (and raising) their hands together in a show of unity and solidarity.

The HT report mentions the major slogans and some of the key points of the speeches delivered by the leaders – mentioning that Gujarat Patidar leader Hardik Patel spoke first, while Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee was the last to speak. Congress veteran Mallikarjun Kharge even read out a letter from UPA chief Sonia Gandhi where the latter had lent her support.

The report also mentions how various leaders of the BJP tried to underplay the rally on Saturday. It mentions for Rajiv Pratap Rudy called it “a summit of contradiction and conflicting ideologies” – however, going on to end with a host of one-liners delivered by some of the rally speakers.

The Times of India:

‘Kolkata Rally Chorus: Oust Modi, But Need to Prove We Can Deliver’ was The Times of India’s headline for its Brigade Rally report. The report strikes a cautionary note, where it makes mention of the fact that “opposition leaders also took a reality check of the need to buffer themselves against the criticism that they were a ragtag assembly glued together only by dislike for BJP”. It writes of how former PM Deve Gowda told the crowd that these leaders would have to create the impression that this coalition could form a stable government. Even Kharge’s statement of “Our destination is far off” is noted.

TOI underscores how “the rally brought out the intense anti-BJP sentiment which is driving its opponents who remain strong in their spheres of influence”.

The Indian Express:

IE’s headline reads: ‘At Mamata Rally, 25 Opposition Leaders Vow to Oust Modi’ – immediately lobbing the ball in the Bengal CM’s court and giving her the pride of place in its reportage.

The report talks of how “the rough draft of a Mahagatbandhan” took place at the ‘United India’ rally and how various political parties came together to denounce various Modi moves such as demonetisation, “rising intolerance”, Rafale deal, etc.

It also mentions how the rally spilled over on to the streets and how the Trinamool had claimed that about 20 lakh people attended the mega event.

The Hindu:

Space allotted by The Hindu to the ‘Mamata rally’ on its front e-page is slightly more limited that most other national dailies – but it does make note of the Opposition “flexing its muscle” at said rally.

The report sums up most of the speeches from major leaders – and makes mention of the Bangla dropped by Mamata where she tells the crowd: “Amra sobai raja amader ei rajar rajotye (We are all kings in the reign of this king)”, a popular line from a Rabindranath Tagore song. Kharge’s ‘poetic’ references are made note of as well, where he pronounces – “Dil mile na mile, kam se kam haath mila kar chalo” (whether our hearts meet or not, we should walk holding hands).