The AIIMS saga
Delhi dailies were prone to give it prime coverage, but the coverage given by regional editions and dailies turned out to be less predictable.
S R RAMANUJAN takes a closer look. Pix, courtesy Indian Express.
Dr P Venugopal’s reinstatement as Director of AIIMS after the Supreme Court struck down the AIIMS (Amendment) Act was the front page story on Friday in almost all the English and in some regional dailies. The Hindustan Times devoted two pages with page slugs for continuity and pictures of celebration. There were four stories "AIIMS celebrates doc return", "Fight Club" with a cartoon showing Dr Venugopal and Dr Ramadoss on a fist fight, "A long, bitter battle ends" and the fourth story was about the Congress rejecting the demand for Ramadoss’ resignation. Being a
The Times of India (Hyderabad edition) added a little punch to the headline on its front page story "Ramadoss eats bitter pill as SC reinstates Venu" with three more stories on page 8. This included an interpretative story "Ramadoss aims at Venu, but hits PM". The story found fault with the PM for allowing his ally to push a law that was essentially aimed at an individual. There was also a detailed interview with Dr Venugopal, "I can now sleep in peace: Venu". May be, TOI’s recent foray into Chennai was the trigger for elaborate stories.
The Deccan Chronicle also hit the bull’s eye when it screamed in its lead story "Big blow to Ramadoss, AIIMS law held invalid". The Deccan Herald, however sedately carried a headline "SC reinstates Dr Venugopal" which was surprising considering the fact that Dr Venugopal hails from Karnataka though Telugu dailies claim he is a Telugu.
Even the Telugu daily, ‘Saakshi’ run by the Chief Minister’s son carried the news as the main lead with the headline "Humiliation for Ramadoss". ‘Eenadu’, true to its colours, added regional flavour to the story. "Victory of a Telugu bidda" was its headline with the intro saying that a Tamil minister (referring to Ramadoss) tortured an eminent Telugu.
Though ‘Dinamalar’ has always been on the wrong side of the Tamil Nadu ruling alliance, its only story on page one was that was about the acquittal of Karunanidhi’s elder son Azhagiri on a murder charge. ‘Daily Thanthi’ also followed suit and Azhagiri was the banner story.
How did the Hindu, treat the story? No doubt, it was the lead item. But there was no mention of Ramadoss either in the head line or in the 400-word copy. "Apex court quashes AIIMS law" was the headline with a sub-title "Venugopal back in office". It was quite evident that the daily did not want to embarrass either the ruling DPA in Tamil Nadu nor Karunanidhi. Stories carried on page 12 also did not say a word against Ramadoss. On the contrary, only his retort was highlighted "Where is the case of misleading government when we have passed the law in Parliament?" What was quite amusing was that the Hindu did not, as is routine, echo the CPI-M line even while Mr Sitaram Yechury went overboard to insist on the need for complete autonomy for institutions like the AIIMS. Perhaps, protecting the image of the DPA nearer home was considered more prudent by the paper.
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