The year that passed has been nothing but eventful, and provided ample opportunities for our cartoonists Keshav and Surendra.
Here are their 10 cartoons that our readers loved the most.
10. The Reserve Bank of India's annual report revealed that about 99% of the demonetised notes were deposited in the banks, prompting the question - is demonetisation now a proven failure?
99% of demonetised notes returned, says RBI report
9. On December 21, a Delhi court acquitted all the accused in the 2G spectrum allocation cases , including former Telecom Minister A. Raja and DMK Rajya Sabha member Kanimozhi, leaving the public puzzling over the veracity of the CAG report’s conclusions alleging a presumptive loss of ₹1.76 crore to the exchequer.
8. The last week of April saw the Narendra Modi-government banning the ‘laal batti’ (red beacon) from VIP vehicles. Meanwhile in Uttar Pradesh, Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya flagged off an ambulance service that would cater to cows.
An ambulance for cows in Uttar Pradesh
7. On April 10, a group of farmers from Tamil Nadu who had been protesting at the Jantar Mandir for about a month demanding that their agricultural loans be waived and the Centre take up their cause, stripped near the Prime Minister’s Office in a bid to draw attention to their cause.
6. On July 26, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar resigned citing irreconcilable differences with ally RJD on the issue of corruption charges against his deputy Tejashwi Yadav. The very next day, he again took oath as the CM with the support of BJP.
The curious case of Nitish Kumar
5. The past year has seen a tussle between the executive and judiciary about the validity of the Aadhaar scheme . Even as the issue is pending at the Supreme Court, Aadhaar is mandatory to pay taxes, get mobile connections and to open bank accounts.
4. Even though BJP won the Gujarat elections earlier this month, the margin by which they won has sparked conversations about how "56-inches" may not be enough to run a country.
Read The Hindu's comprehensive coverage of Gujarat election 2017 here
3. When Dr. Richard Thaler was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics this year, the supporters of the ruling BJP were quick to point out that Dr. Thaler had supported demonetisation based on one of his tweets. However, when Dr. Thaler was told in a reply to his tweet that ₹2000 notes were introduced, the noted economist who co-authored a book titled 'Nudge', had responded “really? Damn.”
Editorial: Well-deserved ‘nudge’
2. In late February this year, Gurmehar Kaur, a 20-year-old student of Delhi University was trolled on social media for condemning the ABVP for violence at Ramjas College, Delhi. The abuse against Ms. Kaur, who is the daughter of a Kargil martyr, reached new heights when many members of the ruling party, such as Union Minister Kiren Rijiju and former Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Vijay Goel, took to social media to justify the personal attacks .
1. In the course of his tenure, former prime minister Manmohan Singh had been criticized time and again for failing to speak up on various issues like corruption allegations, scams and such. However, the past year saw the economist-turned-politician vociferously criticising the current government on numerous fronts.