The year that passed has been nothing but eventful and provided ample opportunities for The Hindu ’s cartoonists Keshav and Surendra.
Here are 10 of their cartoons that our readers loved the most.
10. During a 10-day tour of Bihar, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat said “preparing an army takes six to seven months but we [RSS cadres] will be battle ready in two-three days...this is our capability and discipline that marks us apart.” A Sangh member later clarified that it was not a comparison between the Indian Army and Sangh swayamsevaks but that between the swayamsevaks and the general public.
9. Some of our most popular cartoons this year were on the eventful Karnataka Assembly election, which saw the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerge as the single largest party , but lose the upper hand to the Congress as news of them forming a coalition emerged.
8. In March, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu broke off his party’s alliance with the NDA , citing the Centre’s rejection of their demand to provide Special Category Status to the State, among other reasons.
7. In April, the iconic Red Fort was adopted by the private entity Dalmia Bharat under the Centre’s ‘Adopt a Heritage’ Project, kicking up a storm. It later emerged that the Red Fort wasn't the only monument up for adoption .
6. After it’s huge electoral success in the 2014 elections, the BJP had been a much-wanted ally for many political parties. The period that followed, though, saw the party trying to distance themselves from the allies - a move that backfired and saw them “ reduced to the role of a supplicant before potential electoral partners, the Shiv Sena and the Shiromani Akali Dal .”
5. Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha skirted controversy when he said in a press conference that “ there are some people within the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) who do not want to see Narendra Modi as Prime Minister .” His comment was considered directed at JD-U president Nitish Kumar
4. In Maharashtra’s Dhule district, five persons were beaten to death by a mob on suspicion of being child-lifters . This was just one is a long list of incidents in the rural hinterland where people were beaten or killed simply on suspicion of being child-lifters or thieves owing to false rumours on social media.
3. Delhi has been in a stretched-out power struggle between the Centre and State governments. In early July, the State government implemented a ‘ happiness curriculum ’ in all government schools for students from nursery to Class VIII to explore and express happiness.
2. Following days of 'will he, won't he,' Congress and JD(U) managed to iron out the terms of their coalition government and H.D. Kumaraswamy was made the Chief Minister of Karnataka . However, Congress still retained the power to call the shots in the Cabinet.
1. Our most-viewed cartoon of 2018 is by Surendra and was published two days after the Karnataka Assembly election results were declared . Even though the BJP emerged as the single largest party, the Congress managed to retain power following a post-poll alliance with JD(U).
