| Though most non-English language newspapers did not play up the news of the proposed increase in reservations in educational institutions or the news of the Election Commission pulling up the government, there were enough that carried articles condemning the move as a political ploy "" most papers, interestingly, appeared to leave sharp criticisms to their columnists and did not take editorial positions. |
| One exception, in north India, was Dainik Bhaskar that had a front page anchor titled "Teer Arjun ka, Aankh Sarkar ki" which loosely translates to "Arjun's arrow, government's eye". The piece goes on to say that the original Arjun had an eye closed and the other firmly fixed on the eye of the fish he had to hit. In the modern-day enactment, Arjun Singh (the modern-day Arjun) had one eye fixed on the fish's eye and the other firmly looking at the world's reaction. It then went on to say that when the then Prime Minister V P Singh first unbottled the Mandal genie, he was the prime minister and so took the risk of it backfiring. In the present case, Arjun Singh was uncorking the genie, but it was the Manmohan Singh government that was taking the risk of it backfiring. The piece was accompanied by a news story on student protests. Both Punjab Kesri and Rajasthan Patrika had several columnists criticising the move, and even attributing motives to him, including his wish to become prime minister eventually. |
| The Marathi press didn't gave much importance to the move. None of the three largest circulating newspapers "" Loksatta, Maharashtra Times or Sakal "" reported the story in their Thursday edition, when it broke originally. However, Loksatta wrote an editorial and also carried a follow-up story on the front page on Friday. The Loksatta editorial termed Singh's move an attempt to make him and his party relevant in the Hindi Heartland and opined that only time will tell whether Arjun succeeds in his design. All newspapers carried the story of former deputy Chief Minister Chaggan Bhujbal (who is trying to project himself as leader of the OBCs) rushing to Delhi and congratulating Arjun Singh with a bouquet, with a photograph. None carried opinion pieces or analytical stories on the social, economical or political impact of this move. The only analysis appeared in Loksatta through its two editorials and in the weekly column written by their Delhi correspondent. |
| The Telugu print media took a mixed stand. |
| While Vaartha splashed the news as the second lead on page one on Sunday, Eenadu relegated the news to a single column in the inside page. "Arjun stirs the hornet's nest yet again" was the headline to the story on page two in Andhra Jyothi. It also said that the proposal might reignite the merit-versus-quota debate in the country. |
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