Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin organised the first All India Federation for Social Justice conference yesterday, bringing together opposition leaders from across the country to discuss various issues. 

The online conference was attended by Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot, Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav, Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav, National Conference head Farooq Abdullah, Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien, CPI general secretary D Raja, CPIM general secretary Sitaram Yechury and Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh, among others. 

It was an impressive show of strength for the 2024 Lok Sabha poll on the heels of an opposition get-together at Stalin’s birthday celebrations in Chennai last month.

In Chennai newspapers, however, the headline battled for space with Rahul Gandhi getting bail after his conviction in a defamation case. The Congress leader had been disqualified from the Lok Sabha after his conviction.

The Hindu’s Chennai edition led with Gandhi, with a small column on the sexual harassment case at the Rukmini Devi College of Fine Arts under Chennai’s Kalakshetra Foundation. The other front-page story was on the prime suspect in Sunday’s arson attack on the Alappuzha-Kannur Executive Express.

Stalin’s photo figured as a sidebar with a detailed report on page 11. The inside story was on Stalin strongly opposing the 10 percent reservation for economically weaker sections, saying it could never be “social justice”.

The Chennai edition of the New Indian Express also led with Gandhi’s bail on page 1. The second story above the fold was on union minister Nitin Gadkari speaking at the newspaper’s Delhi Dialogues event on Monday. The social justice meet briefly appeared in a column on page 1 with more details inside.

Tamil newspaper Dina Thanthi had the social justice meet front and centre on page 1, with the headline “National leaders participate in a meeting organised by Stalin in Delhi” with a photo of Stalin and the participants online. A smaller headline quoted Stalin as saying his government was “putting pressure on the central government” to conduct a caste census.

The other story on page 1 was the Kerala train incident.

Dinamalar led with Gandhi, with a shouty red headline that said “Bail extension!”. The other story above the fold was the newspaper’s special guidance programme in Chennai for students. The story below the fold on page 1 was on a statement from the Kalakshetra Foundation professor accused of sexual harassment. There was no sign of Stalin.

Dinakaran had a plethora of stories on page 1, possibly the widest range among papers today. The top headline was on the social justice meet, with opposition leaders pledging to “give our voice to enforce social justice all over the country”.

A small story on the top half, to the right, explained how Stalin had extended an invitation to all party leaders for the conference.

Other occupants of page 1 included a photo of a temple festival, Modi telling the CBI to take action against the corrupt no matter how powerful they are, and Rahul Gandhi getting bail.

Finally, the Chennai edition of the Times of India led with this headline on page 1: “Stalin joins oppn in seeking caste census across India”. The report quoted Stalin as saying the BJP had committed “daylight murder of social justice in Karnataka” while other leaders “directly attacked the BJP”.

So, is Stalin now leading the opposition sweepstakes ahead of the 2024 election? Read this report to find out.