As it winds down, the Winter Session of Parliament has remained stormy, with the Treasury and Opposition benches trading fireworks on multiple matters, ranging from Vande Mataram to electoral reforms and the Election Commission (EC)’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, to the proposed replacement of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) or VB-G RAM G Bill. The discussion and sparring over these issues within Parliament and outside dominated the coverage of the Urdu dailies over the week.
With the Congress-led UDF getting the better of the ruling CPI(M)-led LDF in the Kerala local body elections, winning many rural and urban bodies, the Hyderabad-based Siasat, in its December 14 editorial, notes that these results have come ahead of the state Assembly polls slated for early 2026. It underlines that the BJP has pulled off a stunning win for the first time in the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation election, where the incumbent LDF had ruled for the last 45 years. “The outcome of these polls may have a bearing on the prospects of key players in the state elections, with the Congress making efforts to stage a comeback and the Left trying to return to power for third consecutive term,” the editorial says. “While the BJP has had only one MLA ever in the state Assembly so far, the party would go all out to make its presence felt in the upcoming elections, even if it is aware that power may be out of its reach now.”
The daily states that the Kerala elections would be especially crucial for the Congress, which needs a victory after facing successive defeats in several states. “The morale of the Congress’s rank and file is currently at a low, which could be buoyed by its return to the helm in the state,” it says, adding that the outcome of the local body polls reflected “anti-incumbency” against the Pinarayi Vijayan government. “The BJP would also attempt to use
this anti-incumbency to boost its electoral prospects. However, too much should not be read into the party’s win in the Thiruvananthapuram civic body since it could not make much inroads in other parts of the state.”
The edit says the Congress should work out its strategy for the Assembly polls by keeping the Shashi Tharoor factor in mind, especially in light of the “perceived proximity” of the estranged Thiruvananthapuram party MP to the BJP, which might have, it adds, helped the latter clinch the civic body in his constituency. “The Congress should remain vigilant and avoid complacency. It should step up its outreach to people and get its act together in belts where it could not gain ground.”
SALAR
Highlighting the Congress-led Karnataka government’s move to table in the Assembly the Karnataka Hate Speech and Hate Crimes (Prevention) Bill, 2025 — the first such legislation in the country — the Bengaluru-based Salar, in its December 13 leader, notes that the Bill allows the state government to crack down against hate speech and hate crimes, prescribing a jail term of one to seven years and up to 10 years for repeat offenders. It says the Bill has led to a fresh conflict between the Siddaramaiah government and the Opposition BJP.
The editorial points out that the Bill has defined hate speech as “any expression which is made, published, or circulated, in words either spoken or written or by signs or by visible representations or through electronic communication or otherwise, in public view, with an intention to cause injury, disharmony or feelings of enmity or hatred or ill-will against person alive or dead, class or group of persons or community, to meet any prejudicial interest”. It includes bias on the grounds of religion, race, caste or community, sex, gender, sexual orientation, place of birth, residence, language, disability, or tribe, while exempting “bona fide” forms of expression.
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The daily says that while the Bill’s objective is ”well-intentioned” in view of rising cases of hate speech and hate crime, which have been disrupting communal harmony and posing a threat to peace and law and order, there are concerns about the possibility of its “misuse”. The legislation has given an expansive definition of hate speech, but “the real challenge would lie in its implementation”, it states. “Whenever such a stringent law is brought, the chances of its misuse also increase.”
The Supreme Court has also expressed concerns over hate speech while issuing directions to states to take action against them, the edit says, pointing out that in its 2018 order in the Tehseen Poonawalla case, the apex court had issued guidelines to states to check cow vigilantism and mob lynching.
“While the Karnataka legislation may curb the incidence of hate speech and hate crime, especially on the internet, it should not be an infringement of the fundamental right to free speech, which is also subject to reasonable restrictions on various grounds. The protection of the right to dissent is imperative,” the edit says, adding that the Siddaramaiah government should address concerns over the Bill.
URDU TIMES
Referring to the Congress party’s “vote chori” rally at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi, where Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and party MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra warned the election commissioners of action for their alleged role in vote fraud in the event of the party’s return to power, the Mumbai-based Urdu Times, in its December 15 editorial, points out that in the wake of the Congress’s defeats in the Haryana and Maharashtra Assembly elections, Rahul mounted an onslaught on the EC, holding three press conferences to accuse it of “vote theft” and manipulation of polls in collusion with the BJP.
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“Rahul repeated these allegations ahead of the Bihar elections, whose outcome, too, saw a Congress debacle. Now, in the run-up to a crucial round of Assembly elections in states like West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Assam, the Congress is set to step up its campaign against vote chori,” the edit says. “The party’s Delhi rally attended by its leaders and workers from across the country called for a nationwide campaign over the issue.”
The daily notes that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Priyanka amplified Rahul’s pitch against alleged electoral irregularities. Rahul and other Congress leaders also raised ideological issues, sharpening their attacks on the RSS while stressing on the need to protect democracy and the Constitution. “If the Opposition INDIA bloc joins the Congress’s campaign against vote chori, it may turn into a countrywide stir posing a formidable challenge to the BJP,” it adds.