This week, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal and Anand Vardhan are joined by journalist Radhika Ramaseshan.
On the BJP’s first list of candidates for the Lok Sabha polls, Anand says the party has announced candidates for its “weak seats” first. Radhika points out that Uttar Pradesh will be a tough battle for the Opposition despite the Congress-SP alliance.
The panel then discusses the arrest of TMC strongman Sheikh Shahjahan, the main accused in the Sandeshkhali case, and why the West Bengal police did not hand him over to the CBI. “The BJP is making an all-out effort,” says Radhika, adding that it was time for West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to deliver on her promises, especially to women voters.
This and a lot more. Tune in!
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Song: Mr Vain
Timecodes
00:04:43 - Headlines
00:42:11 - BJP’s first list of candidates
01:01:35 - CBI custody to Sheikh Shahjahan
01:08:17 - Letters
01:30:11 - Recommendations
References
Since 2014, 4-fold jump in ED cases against politicians; 95% are from Opposition
Modi’s consecration of controversial Hindu temple caps years-long campaign
Facing pressure in India, Netflix and Amazon back down on daring films
Recommendations
Radhika
Anand
As SC overturns Narasimha Rao decision, remembering its 1998 ruling in JMM cash-for-votes case
Lorenzo Searches for the Meaning of Life
Raman
Himanta Biswa Sarma’s journey with Pride East
Abhinandan
How Man City’s business model is transforming football
Check out our previous Hafta recommendations.
Produced and recorded by Aryan Mahtta, edited by Hassan Bilal.
Hafta 475
Radhika: [00:00:00] This is a News Laundry Podcast and you're listening to NL Hafta. Angreze apna
Abhinandan: lagaan aur News Laundry chhorte. Welcome to another episode of NL Hafta. We are recording this on a Wednesday. We usually record on a Thursday. But tomorrow I'm traveling to Chennai, uh, to speak at IIT Madras. Why is it called IIT Madras, but the city is called Chennai?
Does anyone know?
Anand: No, some institutional names have not been changed. Like Madras
Radhika: High Court remains Madras High Court. I think
Raman: it's known. And I think IIT Bombay also
Anand: states that. University is also Madras University. That's right.
Abhinandan: It's still I'm going to meet IIT Madras in the city of Chennai. Uh, and Manisha will have.
Other commitments. She is going to be hosting a session, which we are partnering with software freedom law center, that's SFLC. And they're having [00:01:00] a series of discussions on the laws that are impacting us all significantly, which have to do with what we publish online. So Manisha is going to be there and I'm going to be in Chennai.
So we're recording this today, Wednesday on the 6th of March. A three in the afternoon. And before we get into the headlines and I introduced the panel to you, I have an important announcement. Our app issues are kind of resolved, but not entirely resolved. Over the last two weeks, you have, some of you have had issues accessing our app.
And if you go to our website, you see that there's a. First, there's this little image that comes checking whether you're a human or robot because we have, uh, faced an ongoing long DDOS attack, which has carried on for about three to four weeks, which is a way in which you overwhelm someone's server so that their server gets jammed or we try to figure out who is doing this.
And there are various procedures that you have to undertake. So until we completely sort this out and [00:02:00] this DDOS. Uh, our Hafta and Charsha is going to be outside the paywall. So have fun, make the most of it. But if you can get people to subscribe, please do. And do top up our election fund projects. Uh, we have tied up with the News Minute.
We did a bunch of stories in the past, which as you saw, they were read widely. In fact, they were quoted by a few panelists on mainstream media. Of course, no mainstream media picked it up. So, uh, that is something that we are doing on. So we will have ongoing investigations, but we're also covering the elections jointly with the News Minute.
So we have an NLCN project up. So we will have more than 15 reporters, producers and editors, including Manisha, Atul, Dhanya and Sudipto, and a contribution will directly power their work. You can click on the link in the show notes below, or you can head to newslondon. com slash 2024 dash election fund.
Better still, just go to newslondon. com or the newsminute. com. You'll see the banner there, click on it [00:03:00] and do what needs to be done. On that note, let me introduce the panel to you joining us From on zoom, uh, uh, uh, viewers and listeners have heard it before is Radhika Ramesh Ramesh Ramesh. Ramaseeshan.
Ramaseeshan.
Radhika: You're going to Madras. So you get it. I know. Correct.
Abhinandan: And also even more humiliating for me, I'm half Tamil. So for me not to get it right is a disgrace.
Radhika: Okay. That's a revelation.
Abhinandan: Okay. My mother is from Tirunelveli. She's a Tamil. Oh, she's from
Radhika: Tirunelveli. Okay. Right. The famous
Abhinandan: Tirunelveli halwa.
Correct. Although I must admit when I ate it, I was like, why is this famous? It is so dense. It is. You can't like the same thing when I went to Mysore and those ragi ball, you cannot, it's like eating a brick. It's so heavy. Same thing with that halwa. It is like,
Radhika: it's not the most delicious of sweets actually.
Abhinandan: So, uh, [00:04:00] Radhika is consulting editor with the business standard, a columnist writing on politics. She's presently working on a book on UP politics seen through the prism of the state's top leaders since independence. So, how's that going, Radhika, when can we get
Radhika: your book? It's, uh, yeah, the endeavor is to do it as fast as one can, so hopefully before the next elections.
Abhinandan: Right. And joining us in the studio is Raman Kripal. Hello. And Anand Vardhan. Hello. Manisha is not joining us today because she's busy working on a script for Nuisance so that she can bring it to you this weekend. And like I said, she will be hosting a session, uh, tomorrow at the SFLC event. Thanks. Before we get into the discussion, which is going to be all about elections, we have the headlines.
The State Bank of India on Monday asked the Supreme Court to extend the deadline for submitting details on purchase of electoral bonds to the Election Commission of India to June 30th, calling it [00:05:00] a quote unquote, time consuming exercise. Before we move on, Rick. This is, I mean, how many people think this is a credible or an accurate or a, you know, acceptable reasoning for SBI.
Raman: SBI has got a software. Uh, if you need anything, any data, you just need to give an application and get it within five minutes. So, uh, anything like, uh, even this, uh, I mean, I think 2017, they introduced this bonds. So, so even the bonds application, I'm, I'm sure they must be, it must be there in their software and it will, it will be available just with a click.
I
Abhinandan: don't see how it'll take them so long. Radhika, is that, you think this is a credible explanation you, you buy it?
Radhika: You know, this whole business of credibility and neutrality is so skewed in this regime. There are people who will believe and there are many, many of them who will [00:06:00] believe, uh, the government's, uh, submission.
And there are those, some of us like, uh, who are questioning, I mean, as Raman rightly said, the data is right there at the click of, uh, the keyboard. So what is the problem? I mean, that is the thing, you know, and they've conveniently sought time till June. That's not a problem. Uh, that's not serendipity or anything, you know, by June, the elections will be over.
The government will be sworn in probably the same regime. We will see that again. So it doesn't matter. You disclose the names of the donors. Then it really wouldn't matter to anyone if they come back with a thundering majority. If they come back, I'm not saying definitely that is
Abhinandan: besides the point, but for this level of.
brazenness. I mean, anyone can come in power, not come in power. That the brazenness with which one says that, you know, we will, you know, do what we want. That, that is what I find, uh, I mean, how many, I [00:07:00] mean, it would be interesting to carry out a poll to see how many, what do you think, Anand, is this, is this, I mean, would you buy this?
Reasoning? The
Anand: reason, uh, okay, so the reason they have given what I read in the newspapers is that they have to match the contribution with donors. And that may, and the verification process may take time. That is their official position in newspaper, as what the newspapers have reported. I think the court will buy this argument, uh, because, uh, I think in, it is a financial institution, but generally the.
If the law enforcing agencies also, when they seek time, courts generally oblige. So, uh, it is, um, well, uh, I would, in absence of anything, uh, any further information, I will fence it on it.
Abhinandan: So I'll give you some additional information. [00:08:00] As per the Mumbai branch of SBIs affidavit, they have in a sealed cover, 22,000 2070 bonds.
They have donor names and redemption. Details of electoral bonds are both available in S B's Mumbai branch in a sealed cover as per their affidavit to the Supreme Court that it is there sealed cover with her. Mm-Hmm, . Now are they saying that they in an affidavit, they gave it so that time they're not sure , they submitted something that, and they needed four months.
to check something that they've already given affidavit for? I mean, who would believe that? No, no, no. I think that
Anand: affidavit was for all contributions. Correct. No. Electoral bonds. After that four months have
Abhinandan: passed. Yeah. But so, okay. Let's say they can't get these four. What stops them from giving those? No.
I mean, that's, that's with them, right? See, it's only an additional four months that they'll need. They already have this. So they can make this public. Suppose I have, suppose I have my IET details from 2012. to [00:09:00] 2020 and the government says give it in from 2012 to 2024. I'll say I don't have these four years, but I can give you the last 10 years now.
See, you don't want to give, I think it's clear they don't want to give. Yeah. I mean, they don't want to give. Or they are lying in this effort of it in which case they should be taken to custody. They don't want to
Raman: give it before the elections are over. It's very clear. Basically. Uh, see, uh, I have seen, uh, you know, the, uh, banks, SEBI and, uh, banks, you know, uh, interacting with my ministry of finance and income tax authorities.
Uh, you know, um, when they have to give any information to Ministry of Adults, mm, you have finance, uh, FIU, uh, financial, uh, you know, uh, intelligence unit over there, you have, uh, revenue. So I have seen, in fact, I have, uh, seen those data personally. Uh, they are made available within a day if there's no difficulty in this particular case, 16.
1000 [00:10:00] crore rupees have come in the past five or seven years, uh, you know, uh, through the bonds and 92 percent of them have come, uh, you know, by individual, I mean, one girl, uh, each this thing donation being made. So I think, I mean, all this, all this is stored in a computer. What do they have to do? And they have a, they have a, they have the entire app for this particular
Abhinandan: thing.
So I'll just read out from the affidavit that they submitted. I quote, It has submitted that donor details were kept in a sealed cover at their designated branches and all such sealed covers were deposited in the main branch of the applicant bank which is located in Mumbai. At the time of redemption, the original bond, the pay and slip, would be stored in a sealed cover and sent to SBI Mumbai branch.
Again, unquote, I quote again, 22, 217 electoral bonds were used for making donations to various political parties. Unquote. Quote, coupled with [00:11:00] the fact that the two different information silos existed, that would mean a total of 44, 434 information sets would have to be decoded, compiled, and compared.
Unquote. So, this is all there in the sealed covers. So, they don't have, I mean,
Anand: I don't know. So, uh, when institutions buy time, or even when, say, if CBI buys time or ED buys time, what is the argument they give that they are overburdened? Right. So, uh, if we go back this information, they will say we have other work also, we have other.
Means that is how the arguments go in court and, uh, we are, this is not our only job. They will say this thing means I am, I am, I am, I am foreseeing the line of argument that they
Abhinandan: will take in the court. I'm just surprised that the court will accept this.
Anand: Yes. It's not a prophecy that they will, it will accept it.
It may reject it. I, I'm not giving a prediction, but [00:12:00] I am just going by probabilities. What, what has been the track
Abhinandan: record of the court? I think it's, it's. It's unfortunate that something that impacts stuff at the macro level, a court would take leniently. Whereas stuff on a micro level that like, for example, when we were raided, the it notice that had come had given me till I think five o'clock on the third or something, 5 PM on the third, I had to submit what I had to be submitted on the same date.
At 3. 30 they raided me. I was like, I still have one and a half hours to get back to you. No, no, no, no. I mean, it's not like the court told them that you can't do this. What I'm saying is, what is the court there for? I mean, the pillar is there for, to protect the citizen against the government, no? Not to protect the government.
Raman: Why, why these bones have been, why this judgment has come? Obviously, I mean, because with the transparency, so if the transparent, it is not made transparent before the 2024 election. Then there's
no
Abhinandan: point. It defeats the purpose. Exactly.
Radhika: It doesn't serve any purpose. You know, in June, it's all, uh, I [00:13:00] mean, the, whoever wins will be on a high and it doesn't really, people are not going to be pay attention, I
Abhinandan: think, basically to.
Anyway. So let's see what happens on that. We should get, we should have a separate hafta on that. Then, uh, in other headlines, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court on Tuesday acquitted former Delhi University Professor G. N. Sai Baba and five others accused in alleged Maoist links case. Sai Baba, who's 54.
And his wheelchair bound, uh, is 99 percent disabled. He is in Nagpur jail, although the Bombay Maharashtra government has appealed this, but he was acquitted in 20, 2022 as well. And he spent 11 years in prison for which now he's. Imagine I can't, I mean, is there a provision for him to sue the government?
Is is, is there such
Anand: provision? No. Instead of it, Maharastra high court has gone to Supreme Court. Yeah.
Abhinandan: The Mara government
Raman: after high court. No, the state government gone asked the high appeal. High court. First. High court. Court has state, uh, this thing is, uh, you know, release. So high court [00:14:00] refused. They high court said you should go to the
Abhinandan: Supreme Court.
Yeah. Is there any provision in law where he can sue the state
Raman: 10 days without any.
Anand: It means, uh, he, he can, uh, sue, but he can certainly, uh, means, uh, ask for defamation. But, uh, I think the state has not given up.
Abhinandan: Yeah, of course they don't want, but at some stage he can
Raman: also, this boy, this man has lost his job also.
The U. S
Abhinandan: terminated him. Meanwhile, a seven judge constitutional bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice D. Y. Chandrachud on Monday. held that bribery is not protected by the parliamentary privilege as it struck down a 25 year old verdict granting immunity to MPs and MLAs who take bribes to cast their votes or deliver speeches in the house.
The context of this is basically the famous GMM case during PV Narsimha Rao's time. Their vote of, there were three MPs, right? Yeah, three. Their vote saved [00:15:00] The Narsimha Rao government, later on it appear, it was proved that they had actually taken a bribe but because that the voting process happens on the floor of the house and the floor of the house is, uh, has parliamentary privilege or, you know, assembly privilege, the court jurisdiction doesn't apply there.
Therefore, they could not be elected. prosecuted or punished for that. The Supreme court has said, no, even if you're voting on parliament, are you making a speech? But if it's done through bribery, you are, you can be prosecuted, which is actually a
Raman: PV Naseema Rao, I think was imprisoned in this. He was found
Abhinandan: guilty, but he was, he was never imprisoned.
He was found guilty, but no, no. Yeah, you're right. He was, but the,
Radhika: it came close to it, but he didn't actually,
Abhinandan: uh, he wasn't convicted. I think he, he was convicted. She was, but not in prison, but not in it is. You guys could not be. So
Anand: even Aji Singh was, uh, accused in this case. A s
Abhinandan: Yeah.
Radhika: Aji Singh was right in the JM case.
Right.
Raman: In fact, today Singhvi has made a good,
Anand: actually, [00:16:00] uh, the, uh, the review, which has taken under Article 1 37, uh, read with Article 1 45. It also. Came from a case in Jharkhand only. Sheetha Soren, who is the, say, sister in law of the jailed former CM Hemant Soren. She took bribe, allegedly she took bribe for voting for a Rajya Sabha candidate.
But she said that, uh, she quoted this case parliamentary privilege. And she also said that I have not voted for it. for him. I voted for my party's candidate. The curious thing is this. That is most curious thing is this. If you take bribe under the previous law, not the struck down law. So if you take bribe and you vote for it, then you are protected.
But if you take bribe, And you don't vote for it or [00:17:00] abstain, then you are not protected because you are then not expressing, you are not, you are choosing not to express. So the philosophy, the philosophical foundation of the right is that, uh, the parliamentarian should be free to express without fear and favor.
So this privilege. So if you are not exercising that freedom, you are not protected. So, uh, even in the GM bribery case, People who didn't, uh, who abstained were not protected. So that is a very important part of it.
Abhinandan: And it is, uh, it
Radhika: also applies to asking questions,
Abhinandan: right? Yes. Yes. And making speeches. If you take, if you take, yeah, making
Radhika: speeches.
So, you know, you have the immediate context of Mahua Mitra, I guess, you know, I mean, in fact, a connection is being drawn. Yeah, the insinuation that you
Abhinandan: may have taken, but I think that that whole, uh, the, the trigger or [00:18:00] the, um, incentive or the stimulus for making a speech and tying it to a bribe is always going to be a tenuous one to put.
True in court, it
Radhika: is going to be very difficult, but questions would probably be easier because
Abhinandan: you know, questions would be simpler. What the
Anand: Supreme Court has said is that, uh, the privileges were based on the British practice because British parliament won it against the monarchy. So, uh, it was, but in India, the constitutional ideals will be the barometer to measure it.
And, uh, that is the probity, probity principle. And, uh, they have applied the necessity doctrine to say that you would be allowed privilege till it is needed for your proper functioning as a legislator. As a parliamentary, a parliamentarian or legislator in the state assembly. So necessity principle, it, it would not be say, [00:19:00] uh, say blank check that you can do anything.
Also, they have made a distinction between legislative functioning as a body and
Abhinandan: individual members. And maybe someone should test this since we have got one such ruling that what if you lie to the country, uh, in parliament, like for example, if I lie in court. I can be, what's it called? Perjury. Perjury.
Right. Now, Mr. Shah payloads such bullshit from Parliament. Is that protected because they say in parliament or can I sue them saying that you have no, they cannot lie in parliament. You have no, but there is, there is, there is data on that. In fact, that one, uh, um, uh, speech of Mr. Amit Shah regarding, um, he had given the numbers of, I'll just, I'll just search for it.
It, it was incorrect data, but can, no, no,
Anand: no. Uh, I think what, what they're, [00:20:00] there is a parliamentary procedure for this also. Hmm. Say bribery, but, uh, lying is not a criminal action means what? They're saying that bribery for ordinary person is a criminal act. Hmm. So is it for you? So you are under the ordinary law of the land, but say somebody lies under, uh, under the oath of the constitution.
Okay. Many MLAs MPs lie, but to make, uh, make it a criminal action, uh, for parliamentarians. Is speaking within parliament, like in British parliament, parliament also, if somebody has to suggest that the prime minister has lied, they don't say that it's a lie. They say that he has been economical with the facts.
They don't say he, they mean that he has lied,
Abhinandan: but they put it like this. Yeah. I mean, that's, that's just semantics.
Radhika: The phrase that is used here is misleading parliament or the legislature. That is what is called [00:21:00] into question. Every time the opposition. thinks that a certain person from the ruling party has given incorrect information, falsified information, or, uh, deliberately hidden the truth.
So you are accused of misleading Parliament. But as he said, it's not really a, it's not a criminal act. I mean, one way out is to apologize, is to admit that, yes, I have done this and apologize and find a way out. More often than not, everything gets, uh, you know, uh, in the din and noise that follows such an accusation, everything is brushed aside and eventually
Abhinandan: forgot.
Yeah. Yeah. One thing that he said was that the new penal code that's coming, that You know, punishment for mob lynching, hate speech, zero FIRE, FIRI has newly been added to a bill because it wasn't there early. It was there in the earlier this thing also, it was completely, I mean, it was just outright fake that was false.
[00:22:00] And he said it on the floor of the house, you know, introducing whatever, introducing us to three new bills. So that was just one. There were three for others. Also. I mean, we'll put links in the show notes below, uh, then in other news, you know, The BJP on Saturday released its first list of 195 candidates from 16 states and two union territories.
Uh, for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls as it gets closer, more and more excitement happening. PM Modi will contest again from Banaras or Varanasi. Uh, Home Minister Amit Shah will contest from Gandhi Nagar in Gujarat. The Basuri Swaraj's daughter from New Delhi and Meenakshi Lake. He's out. Uh, and Ramesh Biduri is also out.
He's also out. And Shivraj Singh Chauhan is contesting from Vidisha. So he has been rewarded. I'm guessing. I would
Radhika: say compensated,
Abhinandan: you know, he
Radhika: delivered an epic victory. I mean, you know, whether he, he played the [00:23:00] lead role or it was because of Modi, we can debate endlessly. The point is that as the chief minister, he led the campaign in the state, his programs for women were highly praised and a lot of women voted.
substantially for the BJP on that count. So, uh, and then not to make him the chief minister did trigger a lot of, uh, debate, a lot of controversy. Uh, of course, in this day and age, nobody from the BJP is prepared to come on record and talk, but I think it did lead to, uh, I wouldn't say discontent, but it did.
perplex a lot of people as to why Shivraj Singh Chauhan was dropped when he should have got another term. So this is compensation. And I'll also quickly say, tell you one thing, Abhinandan, these 195 seats were given on the basis of a very methodical and sustained feedback that they, [00:24:00] that the leadership has been doing for the last five years from the constituencies.
They are very uh, uh, uh, dedicated. about that, getting the feedback from the Karyakartas, from the voters, uh, from all in summary who matter in a particular constituency. And in Vidisha, I believe the feedback was that women voters wanted Shivraj Singh Chauhan cutting across caste and class. So that may have been an important consideration.
Sushma Swaraj, it was Sushma Swaraj's constituency incidentally, and she always won with a good margin from
Abhinandan: Vidisha. Other than when they made her contest from Bellary and she was rather upset. That was, yeah. She said, I will do this against Sonia Gandhi. She was clearly, she didn't hide her, uh, her disappointment.
She says the party is, I'm a loyal soldier of the party, but she was clearly not happy contesting from Bellary then. Yeah. Uh, but, uh, NDTV has reported, and, uh, [00:25:00] you know, you may be the best person to tell us as to the, uh, you know, dependability or not dependability of this ika that Rahul Gandhi will contest from Amit as well as than ard and, uh, Priyanka will contest from rib.
Is, is that confirmed or is NDTV. It's all in the realm
Radhika: of speculation, even now. I mean, Rahul might want to have a shot again from Amethi, I won't be surprised if he contests from two places so that if he loses and gains one, uh, you know, keeps one, keeps why not for instance, where, uh, Aniraja is not pulling out the indications are that the CPI's Aniraja is determined to contest, she's in fact started working in, uh, why not Amethi is, you know, going to be asked.
Prove as tough for Rahul Gandhi as it did in 2019 and to an extent in 2014 as well. You know, I thought it was very close even in 2014 because, uh, [00:26:00] Rani has been nursing the constituency. Uh, very assiduously. She's been visiting and recently of course she did that ra Yeah. House that she's built in a Metis, because what is the charge that you hear in a Metis and rib against the, uh, mug Gandhi, but they're never there.
seasonal birds. They do have a house, uh, somewhere on the outskirts of Amethi, but picnic et cetera, et cetera. So whereas I think Smriti has been visiting and of course, sometimes creating controversies and in any constituency, you're going to have voters who are unhappy with the elected member, some who are all right, who are okay with the elected member.
But, uh, it's not going to be easy for Rahul to regain Amethi as far as I can see. And Rai Bareilly, there's the other constituency you mentioned. Now, last time [00:27:00] the BJP candidate who is a lawyer was very unhappy with the party for not investing enough in Rai Bareilly. They said even if they had put in 15 percent of the effort, 10 15 percent of the effort that they put in Amethi, we might have won.
And if you notice the margin from the election commission data in Rai Bareilly's, the winning margin had declined for Sonia Gandhi as well. So, Rai Bareilly again could be a tough candidate. called for Priyanka Gandhi. The indications are that the BJP is, might field a defector from the Samajwadi party, Manoj Pandey, who has a network in that area.
I mean, he was elected from Ayodhya, I think, sometime in the past. So he's basically from that region. That's a Brahmin heavy constituency. So, uh, normally in the case of the Gandhi's caste doesn't really come into play. They get, usually get the votes from [00:28:00] every caste. I don't know what is going to happen this time, but it is going to be very
Raman: tough.
20 years ago, uh, Radhika, I had gone to Raybareli and Prenka was visiting that place. And at that time, I think Satish Sharma. Had contested and 2004, I think, uh, Sonia Gandhi came back and she contested from, uh, Rai Bareilly and Priyanka Gandhi. At that time, I was pretty impressed. She knew this Congress workers, you know, by the first name.
I went to her 10, uh, around 10, uh, you know, places she went to on a single day, various villages, very, very small gatherings where she's talking to these people. She is very, uh, I mean, uh, 20 years ago, she was very, very much. Uh, you know, the Congress workers, I don't know what the situation is, but they
Abhinandan: haven't, uh, Varun and, uh, Menaka Kabhi, we don't know yet, right?
No, they haven't
Radhika: announced for Sulkhanpur and Pilibhit yet. Okay.
Abhinandan: We'll discuss it in a little more detail once I'm done with the headlines. You want to [00:29:00] add anything to this for now? Okay. So then hours after tendering his resignation on Tuesday, former Calcutta High Court Judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay announced his decision to join the BJP.
And he said, uh, uh, he wants, he's committed to fighting corrupt and old Congress. Uh, and also he is the one who transferred a bunch of cases to the CBI, right? That was done by him only this judge The
Radhika: teacher's recruitment scam drama. Yeah,
Abhinandan: I think yeah. Yes, like I was talking the brazenness now It just doesn't matter do what you want.
It's cooling period.
Anand: Do they have cooling? No, no Yeah One of the, one of the most, uh, famous judges of Supreme court was, uh, once an MLA from um, CPI MLA, Justice Krishna here. And also in 67, there was a judge Shubha Rao who became an MP, who [00:30:00] contested on Congress
Abhinandan: ticket. I think there have been several judges who have contested.
I think, I don't know of any judge who has quit, who has resigned as judge and joined the party. Yeah.
Radhika: To which I think Arun Jaitley once famously said that there should be a cooling off period of a year. I mean, he stressed on, emphasized on that and that very thing is being violated from, by the BJP. I mean, you have the classic case of Ranjan, Justice Ranjan Gogoi.
Abhinandan: No, also if what this Justice is saying is true, that I also approached him. They also approached me. So they approached him like in the few hours that he resigned or And to make the statement that they had approached him when he was they must be, they
Raman: want him to contest from some constituency.
Abhinandan: No, what I'm saying is, if he's a sitting judge, if you're a sitting judge, I mean, I'm sure that's some sort of a breach if you do that, no?
Radhika: Yeah, exactly. Before he demitted, uh,
Abhinandan: judgeship. I mean, if I go to a sitting judge and say, will you become a director in my company? I'm sure I can be holed up for that. But nothing surprises
Raman: [00:31:00] you.
Abhinandan: Then the president has withheld the assent for four bills passed by the state legislative assembly, including one, And this is to divest the governor from position of Chancellor of Universities in Kerala.
The bills withheld are Kerala University Laws Amendment No. 2 Bill. University law amendment bill 2022, the university law amendment bill 2021, and the Kerala Cooperative Society's amendment bill. So when the governors get too much to handle, then the president holds up bills. This is how this country is being run by the center.
Great. And we should all bhajao tali and say sab changa si. Uh, then the Indian embassy in Israel has issued an advisory for Indian nationals working in Israel, especially in border areas, should we look at to safe areas within the country. In fact, this comes after a young man from Kerala. died in shelling.
So that was kind of sad. Then the Supreme Court on Tuesday quashed a 2018 money laundering case against Karnataka deputy chief minister D. K. [00:32:00] Shivkumar. The ED had registered the case against him based on a complaint filed by the IT department. He was accused of evading tax and being involved in a legit Havala transaction worth crores of rupees.
I wonder what is the IT and ED's success rate? Would you be single digits or not even? In fact, uh, express
Raman: did a series.
Abhinandan: Yeah. I remember that, but that was just very less. That was just ed. Not just
Raman: ed it. So you will never know it is mostly civilian. They're not criminal. Hey, so like we did this political funding story.
That was the toughest thing to find out what happened to those cases, right? And there's no way either this whole among themselves. If they go to the court, they have, uh, out of court settlement. So we just don't come to know about it. And even our through RTI, we are
Abhinandan: not given information. What was the news
Anand: item with this one?
Abhinandan: What was the news? That's the Shiv Kumar. Karnataka deputy chief minister, there was a case that had been filed against him for money laundering. Yeah. He was in jail [00:33:00] also, isn't it? He was in jail. Yes. Yes. Supreme court has quashed the case. He should also file.
Radhika: He's too busy firefighting for Himachal and wherever it's in trouble.
Right. You know, they don't have
Abhinandan: firefighters. I think the politicians, it's, it's par for course. But for someone who's like a professor, who's a regular bloke, you've destroyed the guy's life here. Oh, yeah. I mean, there's this fantastic podcast I had once suggested where, uh, in the U. S. these three black men who were tortured and they were taken into custody, they were falsely implicated in the case.
They sued the state of Texas or whatever has happened. Got 6. 8 million dollars, yeah. In return, because he, they destroyed the lives. I mean, what I'm saying is here, if I were to go against a yogi's regime, if I'm someone whose house has been demolished, you know, illegally against, cause court to bolte rehte you cannot do this without due process, without due process, aap to shor [00:34:00] hor macha ke kuch hota to hai nahi.
If you'd actually sue them, they should have to, just like they're saying you compensate the state, the state should compensate you,
Raman: right? No, in cases like Sai Baba, the, the argument and the evidence as cited by the, uh, you know, investigating agency is that they found a book on Marx. Yeah,
Abhinandan: I remember that.
So those kind of,
Raman: those kind of evidences, I mean,
Abhinandan: Come upstairs, there are three books on Savarkar and two on Modi lying, so I'm probably a Hindutva writer. No, but should there be recidivism?
Anand: In Sai Baba's case, that was, I think, not the only evidence, but the evidence was inadequate. Not the only, but it
Abhinandan: was one of them.
It has said that it has
Anand: not been established beyond reasonable doubt.
Abhinandan: So, no, but, uh, should not like, for example, they're saying that on video, if we catch anyone protesting, you will be asked to compensate the state for whatever damage you've done. [00:35:00] Now, if you cause someone's financial or, you know, economic damage by your actions, the state should also have to pay.
How can it only be one way? Yeah. We have enough people who will side with the state, which is what that whole debate we had last hafta. We as a community, Indians, we have no value for individual rights or individuals. We are servile, we will side with the state no matter what, but it will be hard for anyone to find a majority siding with an individual's rights.
It's just culturally it doesn't come with us. We believe this guy is born to rule. He's born to rule. A Sindhiya will side with the British, he will rule. He will side with the Congress, he will rule. In any other society, you would abandon the guy. You would, you would, kitna paltoge tum? But yahan par it, everyone will, you know, that authority figure, whether it is a math, whether it is a, whatever it is a, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, Dehra, whether it is a, uh, [00:36:00] whatever, seminary of the, the, the Tababe Uleema, whatever the hell it is.
or anything you will side with the with the collective authority figure. There is zero respect for individual rights in our country. If you want
Raman: to protest, they don't let you protest. Okay. They come up with the heavy government machinery. If the four, uh, cabarias, I mean, some cabriolet session is going on four cabriolets are walking on the national highway.
They close the whole hundred kilometer long highway. Absolutely. 100 kilometer long. I mean, this can happen only in our country.
Radhika: Just four of them. This wasn't always so. I think after the emergency, there was a spell when civil rights movements were very vibrant, you know, the country over. You had organizations like the PUCL, PUDR, CPDR and other organizations standing up for human rights.
And actually coming out on the [00:37:00] streets protesting. Of course some went to jail and the rest of it, but it was in the aftermath of the emergency. But even in
Abhinandan: the late two thousands, I mean, I myself organized a rock concert. Euphoria up, LAR came, I, I mean I organized that in RTII came, Hilde was there. Vin, we set up a stage, we got audio equipment.
The whole Euphoria band came and they sang about freedom and independence. Can you imagine doing that today? No. Bloody Euphoria would be in jail. All their songs would be pulled down from YouTube. We'd all be anti national elements.
Radhika: Yeah. I think the last big protest we saw was, uh, what, Anna Hazare's and also the one following the Nirbhaya rape.
Yeah. Yeah. But, uh, that suited the BJP soul. They organized, they came out in huge numbers, galvanized the crowds for,
Abhinandan: yeah. Then several senior BJP leaders on Monday took to Twitter, which is now called X and added Modi Ka Parivar [00:38:00] in the social media handle user names. In fact, other than BJP leaders, some others have also done it.
This was basically, um, Lalu Yadav said that he has no family. And uh, He said he's not a full Hindu. I don't know what his reasoning was, but his argument was also stupid. What was his argument? That, but gave a handle to BJP. But what, what was, he didn't shave his, uh, if you don't get married, it's not a true Hindu.
All Hindus after married is that No, no. Not, it didn't have to do with marriage. Mother. His
Raman: mother passed. Mother passed. He should have shaved his head. It didn't shave his hat. So he is not a Hindu.
Anand: Uh. Hindi heartland in UP, Bihar, it is very common. People say, but it's not here in
Abhinandan: Haryana,
Radhika: Punjab, et cetera.
It's not, we don't have it in the South. I know definitely don't. But
Abhinandan: in
Anand: Bihar, from where Lalu spoke, it is, it is, is, uh, considered very say disrespectful. If you don't know, uh, head when
Abhinandan: your parents pass. So basically [00:39:00] now So that is he says me family. Yeah. So he's the king of rhetoric. Uh, then, uh, another headline, dehi Chief Minister K Monday, told the enforcement director he would be willing to answer the prob agency question in connection with the liquor license policy after March 12 via video conferencing.
In response, the ED has said that there is no provision for questioning live video conference . So this little cat mouse game is continuing and continuing and continuing. And finally,
Anand: I think, uh, if the Harken and quote in Harken has yesterday, uh, I think, uh, given a kind of judicial rebuke to him and so, and for not appearing, he also appeared in.
7. 8 time. So, uh, that has been a shot in the arm for the ED. And also Supreme
Abhinandan: Court last week said that states have to cooperate with
Anand: ED in a hearing. [00:40:00] Uh, other, uh, In the extreme, you will be penalized under, say, section 174 of IPC if you don't comply with an order.
Abhinandan: And do they have to tell you they are questioning you as a witness, as an accused, or they don't have to tell you anything?
You have to
Anand: come if there's someone is there.
Abhinandan: That's all. And the someone doesn't have to say that they want you as an accused? No, they
Anand: are saying we have to ask questions.
Abhinandan: But, but they don't have, they're not bound to tell you, are you an accused or are you a witness? They don't have to tell you that. In,
Raman: uh, related to this kind of case, uh, in case of Sorin, Sorin had filed an FIR in his state against four media groups, you know, saying that these, uh, the ED had given them prior information.
And these four, uh, you know, these four media groups. groups, they were campaigning against me. So, so the summons were issued to these four media groups and [00:41:00] the police, the police summoned them. They had summoned them. So they said, can we cannot come to Jharkhand. So now the Jharkhand police is coming to question them, you know, to
Abhinandan: Delhi.
Right. Right. Then award winning Kashmiri journalist Asif Sultan was arrested last week, uh, in connection with the case filed under the UAPA, and this two days after he was released from five year detention.
Raman: Five years of, uh, he was given, um, bail or he was acquitted 70 days. before, before he was released from the jail.
Okay. It took 70 days
Abhinandan: to order
Raman: to comply with the court order. And after he, the moment he landed in Kashmir,
Abhinandan: he was arrested again. And then finally, China signed a defense cooperation agreement with the Maldives on Monday that will provide the island nation with free military assistance. The development comes near a month after Maldives government.
had said that [00:42:00] India had agreed to withdraw its military personnel from the island nation by May 10 and replace the aviation management staff with civilians. Right. Now, those are the headlines. Let's just get into the election buzz. I'd like the panel to give an idea on all the, you know, lists that have been released since of course we can't discuss all the over a hundred names that have been released.
What are the noteworthy ones or interesting things that so far from the list that have been released? Do we get like Pragya Thakur has been dropped. And in fact, after she's been dropped, she's filed some, she's filed a complaint against some BJP. So the guy's an MLA. So she is clearly resentful of having dropped, but I have to give it to this, uh, prime minister.
You can be the strongest of strong men, but you always lead your campaign as a victim like this Parivar, Main Neech, Main Chaiwala, Main Yeh, Main Wo, you know that whole [00:43:00] thing that he positions himself that, Oh, see, poor me, everyone's mean to me. His persona is that of a strong one, but his campaign is always that of the victim.
I find it fascinating. See, lots of people have pulled this off for one term, but to go back with the same psychology for the third time, I think you need a remarkable level of charisma to pull that off. That you are, you, you have done. by the kilo, but you are still the victim and people buy it. I think that's fascinating.
I think it's an, it's a study in human psychology.
Radhika: Yeah, absolutely. It started with this Modka Saudagar in one of the Gujarat elections. I think 2007 Sonia made that remark. She called him Modka Saudagar, which of course she retracted later. And that was the first time when, uh, Mr. Modi played the, uh, Victim card, as you said, and you're right.
He recycles it in election after election after election and manages to pull it off. [00:44:00] I mean, you know, yeah, you took the instance of the Chaiwala, Chowkidar Chor Hai, and now you have Modi Ka Parivar, it will work again, probably, you know, here is this singleton. He doesn't have a family. And his own nucleus family, he keeps them at a distance, doesn't allow his brothers to come anywhere close to him, doesn't do any favors to the family.
And so who is he going to make money for? On the other hand, you have all these dynasts. On the other side, every regional party is headed by a legatee or somebody who's an inheritor. So they are out there to make money for their large families. Of
Abhinandan: course, having the media on your side helped because I was watching an English, uh, this network 18.
Network 80 is not running news. It's just running 24 seven, a campaign. That's all they're doing.
Radhika: All of them, Raman, can you point out one instance where, uh, a particular mainstream channel has deviated and said something, you know, [00:45:00] which can cause somebody to sit up and say, wow, I mean, you know, they're actually saying something different.
No, I mean, all of them follow a particular line and this Modi ka parivar is. A theme that they've
Abhinandan: latched on to. Any, uh, names in Bihar that, that are remarkable, surprising or unsurprising? Nothing yet. Right. So, so I'm a little intrigued as to Biduri being dropped because he was put on that. I mean, he's done his bit by being bigoted, which clearly is rewarded in the BJP with the kind of things he says, but he was also put on that state, uh, election committee.
Right. Right.
So why has he, I mean, unless he's compensated elsewhere, like, I mean, Meenakshi Lekhi, as one keeps hearing that she's not exactly in the best books of, but I'm surprised about Biduri.
Raman: I think he was unpopular. Uh, becoming unpopular because of his behavior in his [00:46:00] constituency and with his own people. I mean, I, uh, I have some friends in, uh, you know, uh, administration.
So they, they used to feel they were very surprised because the way he used to abuse. Um, in open, even in parliament. So they have given me, you know, his stories. So the man is so brazen. I mean, what he said on the floor of the house is unpardonable, unpardonable. So initially, yeah. And, uh, the guy who is replacing him, I know him personally because when I was, uh, a reporter and covering Delhi politics, he was part of the Delhi politics, Ramveer Singh Biduri.
Now he Is quite hardworking. Mm-Hmm mm-Hmm. He has won elections as MS, uh, and he has risen from the, uh, you know, this thing corporate level.
Abhinandan: Even a has announced their list for Delhi. Yeah. That, uh, so , who's [00:47:00] contesting, he's very popular as an MLA from his constituency. But of course MP is a different ation.
New Delhi, right?
Radhika: Yeah. Would be against
Abhinandan: Bar. So he'll be against Barraj. Yes. So what do you make of the deli lists? Uh, and you know, going by the word percentage? Last time I think. At least more than three seats, BJP got more than 50 percent vote share, right? So even Absolutely. So, so you think that it's going to make a difference right now with the Congress up coming together or?
Radhika: As far as the minority votes are concerned, I think they will avoid a split, complete split. But is that enough to see the Congress up through? I don't know. I think in a city like Delhi, the BJP, would definitely have an advantage, and given the huge percentage that they polled last time, it's going to be difficult for, uh, the, this alliance to, uh, bridge the gap, you know, unless the tide turns completely against the BJP, which I don't see it happening at all.
At the end of the day, it will be, uh, Modi, whether it is Basuri [00:48:00] Swaraj or Biduri or somebody else, they're going to ride on the back of Modi's charisma, Modi's oratory and win their seats. But that is the thing in Delhi. As far as if you look at the big picture, as far as the contests are, keenly contested states are concerned, I would definitely say Bihar is not a hundred percent surefire win for the NDA.
Bengal will see a contest against the South Maharashtra against the again, uh, the Southern States barring Karnataka, of course, but Delhi, I still feel it's, I think it's advantage BJP.
Abhinandan: What about Karnataka? I mean, they're The You of the Congress was pretty remarkable and it was overwhelming. The assembly two years, it was quite
Radhika: spectacular.
But, uh, you know, I, uh, I don't know to what extent, uh, c Amaya has worked on the ground or what, whether his guarantees have been, uh, uh, [00:49:00] successful and what people think of those. But last time as well, I think BJP didn't have its government, but when it came to the, uh, to Parliament elections, they got 25 out, 28 seats in.
Karnataka. So again, it, we have to see to what extent the Modi charisma works in Karnataka. I mean, you know, you don't see it having much of an impact in Tamil Nadu, but
Abhinandan: Karnataka. I mean, I mean, they can, they plan for 15, 20 years from now. Now this BJP has little or no presence, but you, you think any names or lists that have been announced right now are clear indicators.
I'd be surprised if any of Menaka, Varun get a ticket. I think they have been more than Yeah. Uh, vocal with their, uh, disconnect with the party's ethos or whatever, the overtly Hindutva.
Raman: They're not so much vocal, but yes, they were quiet. No,
Abhinandan: I think by BJP, by BJP standard, Varun used to tweet often, sir. He would often tweet about Sambandhani's self sacrifice.
He'd write pieces, write pieces against. I think Varun, I'll be shocked if he gets a ticket. I [00:50:00] mean, he's, so I think those two are kind of clear. I doubt they will get, but, Other than that, I mean, it would be interesting to see who gets rewarded, who doesn't. Jai Shankar would be interesting to see where he contests from.
He will be contesting.
Raman: I'm guessing. But I think Radhika can, uh, put some light on this 51 candidates in UP. See whatever we say about Modi's charisma or his campaign, but it's so methodical about choosing the candidates, you know, uh, apart from his charisma. So 51 candidates, 51 names have been announced in UP and say, say, uh, if, uh, both Gandhi's Contest from UP.
So what kind of picture, how do you see UP election this time?
Radhika: I don't see the Gandhi's making a big difference to the overall picture. Maybe there may be a fight in Amity and Raibarili if they choose to contest. from those seats. However, I think one has to look at the Samajwadi party. It continues to remain the [00:51:00] main opponent of the BJP.
The Samajwadi party has also announced it came up with a list before the BJP. Everybody's talking about BJP being quick off the mark, but Samajwadi party had announced its candidates before the BJP did. So the point is that on the ground, the Samajwadi remains the opponent. Now, how Akhilesh is going to deal Because he's lost, uh, Jayant Chaudhary, RLD.
He's lost Om Prakash Rajbhar. Um, six or seven MLAs from his party have defected to the BJP. Some of them are going to get tickets. So he only has a very weak Congress as his ally. And Abhinandan, there is some talk about, uh, bringing the BJP, BSP as well into this fold. I mean, it is, Purely in the realm of speculation, but there is, which means that probably somebody in the Congress is making an effort to reach out to Mayawati.
Mayawati may look down and out, but Mayawati still has a vote bank everywhere. [00:52:00] You know, there is a committed charter vote which doesn't really move from
Abhinandan: Mayawati. I think she has a most loyal base. She has a loyal
Radhika: base. Now, will that make a difference? Let's not forget in 20, uh, 19, uh, the SP BSP and RLD had an alliance and they couldn't really take on the BJP mm-Hmm.
you know, so I still feel with Yogi and uh, uh, up and with Modi here at the center, it is still a fairly unbeatable, uh, com combined that you're looking at in. And of course, BJP has worked out its caste equations and the rest of it very well, probably felt a bit shaky in West UP, which has always been their bastion.
That is why it got Jain Chaudhary on board and fortified its, uh, right flank, so to speak. But, uh, I don't see, uh, UP as the state, which is going to pose a great challenge to
Abhinandan: the [00:53:00] BJP. What do you make Anand of the list that have been brought out yet with Sushma Sivaraj's daughter? So I think that That is a acknowledgement of Sushma ji who was kind of sidelined while she was alive.
I
Anand: don't think it is an acknowledgement of that. Uh, I, I think, uh, um, 81 perhaps, uh, MPs have been, um, sitting MPs have been replaced out of 195. So that's a fairly high percentage. And, and, uh, um, Though data, the Staphylogist data till 2019 for assembly elections as well as MPs is that 51 percent of sitting MPs win in the Lok Sabha polls.
Uh, that is Parnarvaya and Doris Sorapalka book, The Verdict, they have this data there. Uh, but BJP has gone against that grain, uh, [00:54:00] because I think, uh, one is the internal survey. Uh, a second, the most of the, uh, I will not say most, but, uh, uh, a sizable chunk of the. Names that they have announced are on, uh, their weak seats now.
Uh, and that's they are trying to give more time to seats, which in which they think that they are weak to, uh, for Condi candidates to consolidate their campaign. Uh, and, uh, the stronger sheet, they will bring the second list. So, uh, that is, uh, again, third is that. Their policy of, uh, bringing new faces is to infuse the organizational energy and make a, uh, every VJP worker believe that they will have their moment under the sun.
And, uh, that is how a strong leadership, say, a [00:55:00] duopoly headed by Mr. Modi and Shah can draw their, uh, organizational, uh, energy that you, uh, you will have your seat. Nobody is very much privileged here except we two. And, uh, every, everyone will have. So, uh, a kind of, uh, say the hierarchical structure, the second layer being chopped off, there is no second, third, fourth layer.
Everyone has a chance. So, uh, Uh, that, uh, of course, the conventional logic is that for beating the anti incumbency of the parliamentarians, you bring up that and that all parties do BJP also does that. But, uh, that is also, and of course, there is that. Uh, accommodating all sections and now I am coming to two, three more points that came up in discussion.
One thing is that, uh, Mr. Modi's, um, uh, Mr. [00:56:00] Modi in his campaign playing this card or that. Uh, uh, I think, uh, somebody, uh, two, three years ago made an interesting observation and uh, And that is to an extent not wholly but true about BJP's current philosophy, not philosophy, but its place in the current Indian politics, ideologically, that it's a right of center force, but it is a byword for change.
So, Uh, what is a generally conservative parties should be a force of conservation, but it's a byword of change that this is the paradigm shift. We, I am, uh, so Congress was this system, this paradigm of privilege and or even regional parties. And the. Paradigm shift, even if we are in party in party in government, we are the opposition party actually.
So, uh, uh, this, uh, he, uh, [00:57:00] this party plays in the mindset as an opposition party, because we are bringing change. We are, uh, Facing lot of obstructions from the old, the political class of the old, the ecosystem.
Abhinandan: I mean, the same language of hyping the ecosystem is that ecosystem is doing this political, yeah, so
Anand: political, uh, uh, class of the old privilege.
So, um, that is one thing that he also, why, why we, because, uh. On, on social media, you have this, uh, uh, that, uh, someone said this against Modi. Now in campaigns, he brings that virtual world to, uh, a direct conversation. He will not miss that. If you give him a, say, brownie point that, uh, he has been called some like money Shankara here, niche or something.
He, uh, as a smart politician, he will [00:58:00] not miss that. He will take that to virtual world uh, conversation from the cyber space to the actual election campaigns. So, uh, that, that is, that is one thing. Third is, uh, about this news chemistry thing that I, uh, that you mentioned. It came up in discussion. One major failure of this late adjustment is that, and also that the, um, lower level worker chemistry doesn't work like workers don't coordinate.
So it's a, it's a more of a top down approach that, yes, we have now allied, but workers are not in sync with that workers are working at cross purposes. So, so. Absolutely. So, so. So they don't find this, uh, chemistry very instant, like, yes,
Radhika: yeah, in fact, and then I wanted to mention that with regard to the Congress SP alliance, SP always finds it difficult to transfer its, [00:59:00] uh, votes.
to an ally. You saw it in, I saw it in the Ghaziabad, Ghazipur region in East UP last time. I mean the Yadavs were very listless about working for the BSP. The SP had an alliance with BSP and And they even said that they were looking to vote for the BJP. And I suspect that's what a majority of them must have done wherever the BSP candidate was fighting on what they thought was rightfully an SPC.
So I think even though some people got gung ho about the Congress SP alliance, I think ultimately the SP will find it very difficult to transfer its votes to the Congress. The Congress has a very small percentage of upper caste vote still left. I don't see the upper caste voting at all for the SP. I mean, it's a very small percentage.
So the only direct advantage that they have is that the Muslim votes won't split like they used to [01:00:00] in the past. And if Mayawati doesn't become part of the alliance, one can trust Mayawati to field a maximum number of Muslim candidates in order to split, uh, the so called secular alliances So that is the state of the opposition in
Abhinandan: Uttar Pradesh.
What do you think, sir? I find
Raman: Mayawati, I still don't believe and in case she, even if she joins India Alliance, I think she will be a mole. For the because, uh, because going by, uh, you know, uh,
Abhinandan: in the last few years since Modi's rise, my, no, no,
Raman: my friends also who are very senior police officers, I've said it earlier also, they've told it, she has already been told the, you know, the jail where she is going to be lost.
Uh, you know, in case she, she, she goes out of BJP camp. And if you see the past three, four years, She's [01:01:00] only complimenting, uh, BJP in some way or the other. So, so,
Abhinandan: so I, I mean, he always, yes.
Radhika: Yeah. He's already working in the Simanjal region of, uh, Bihar. I mean, that's where he, uh, picked up five seats in the last assembly elections in Bihar and considerably damaged, uh, the RGD Congress's prospects.
So that, that's, uh, That's the region. One of the regions he's looking at, of course, UP, he will be tempted to field candidates in UP, especially in the Rohilkant belt, which has a large Muslim
Abhinandan: population. So since we've already gone over an hour before we wind up, you know, this, um, case of Bengal being this major conflict point of Sheikh Shah Jahan.
Uh, the CBI team wants him handed over. I think the Bengal police is not handing him over, although there's a court order. I'll, I'll just check what the latest on this is. Yeah. So the deadline was today four 15 that they had to hand [01:02:00] him over to the CBI. So the, uh,
Raman: they're moving Supreme Court, the
Abhinandan: court. So, um, I'm just wondering, is it, I mean, is this such, is this conflict of Sheikh Sharjah between MATA and uh, BJP?
Going to be electorally very significant in, in Bengal, uh, or. It's, I mean, it's just something to put Mamata on the back foot for now with that judge also kind of playing footsie with the BJP. But will it have an impact on Lok Sabha is, is this because this guy doesn't seem such a big leader state wise, right?
I mean, they could sacrifice him. I mean, why have this stuck by him? It's
Radhika: not about the person gentleman himself. It's about that whole Sandesh Kali incident and women. You know, whether they're put up by the BJP or not, I don't know, but women coming out and openly accusing, uh, TMC leaders and TMC Carter of uh, uh, misbehaving, molesting, [01:03:00] assaulting them, and so on.
Now, if you remember in the last assembly election, what really, uh, tip the scales in favor of Manta was the, the women, uh, votes of women. Yeah. Especially after Mr. Modi went and, you know, did
Abhinandan: only.
Radhika: Yeah, exactly. Didi o didi. I mean, that kind of, that was one of the things that tipped the scales for Mamta. It was not the only thing, but one of the things.
Then you also have charges of corruption, you know, about a grassroots kind of institution building by this Trinamool Congress, just as the CPM had done. And those are basically instruments to feather their nest. So, you know, instead of, uh, really working for the people, I mean, here was an opportunity for Mamata to deliver whatever she, or whatever she had promised, her various schemes and so on.
So, and this is a Lok Sabha election, so people will probably look at the bigger picture in Bengal. [01:04:00] So Bengal, at least I do expect a keen contest. I'm not saying it's disadvantage Mumtah and advantage BJP, but BJP is making an all out effort. I mean, that is what struck me, you know, after their route in the last assembly election, they've doubled down, you know, so one has to see whether that pays them or not.
Of course, there is also a view that The BJP hasn't quite, still hasn't understood Bengal properly in terms of, you know, symbols and things that Bengalis relate to. I mean, you know, this Ram, for instance, doesn't, is not, it doesn't supposedly work in Bengal and people wonder why the BJP go, where it goes
Abhinandan: on and on about Ram.
Yeah. That doesn't work there. Yeah. Right. What do you make of it, Anand, this entire battle over Sheikh Shah Jahan? Why is it so important to both parties, politically? Means
Anand: one is, uh, that, [01:05:00] uh, BJP's, uh, campaign may, uh, make, uh, misgovernance a big point and this case fits into that. It's like, uh, also, uh, the communal polarization can also work, like, uh, the appeasement charge.
It's like, uh, That, uh, him being from a particular community is being, is being sealed by the party, so the impeachment charge can be there. Uh, also, uh, you see, uh, when BJP comes into a new territory, now the timelines of BJP and uh. The Ariba are different. If, so, b for BJP being a political force, it has to look at an election within five years.
Mm-Hmm. But, uh, uh, the Ariba RS and Hindu or whatever the other, uh, affiliates of the larger fold, for them, the timeline is [01:06:00] 30 years, 40 years, 50 years. So they, they have, uh, made their presence felt there and they are working on, say. It says like Ram as a, a deity may not be very relevant there. There are other deities like Durga who are more important, but the, uh, Hindu identity consolidation, the larger project now they, for them, like 50 years, they can work on even 50 years timeline.
So because they are an ideological force and, uh, they have now the funding they have now or they can, uh, Um, expand their foot soldiers and this all that. So I, this is an important distinction people should make that BJP works on a tighter timeline of five years, 10 years, the Sangh Parivar, uh, even in the, okay, we won 15 seats.
So what? So what? 15
Abhinandan: seats, we have got a foothold. Yeah. [01:07:00] Yeah. I think that's, that's fundamentally different, um, in, in the approach of both, but, uh, great. That's been a fantastic discussion. Thank you so much, dear panel. And thank you so much, Radhika, before we. Say goodbye. We'd like you to enrich our listeners with some recommendations of something they should read, watch or listen
Radhika: to.
Okay. Last time I had a book right on hand, you know, the day I became a runner. Yeah. Um, yeah. So this time I didn't, I haven't really come prepared. I must say I haven't been reading very much. Right.
Abhinandan: What are you watching? What are you watching lately? Anything interesting? I'm listening. No, I think, uh
Radhika: uh, laal ladies is the one I'm looking at to watch.
Okay. Yeah,
Abhinandan: I believe so. It's very deadly. It's got some good reviews. Yeah, it's a,
Radhika: yeah. Counterpoint against a dreadful movie like animals. So that is the one Im really .
Abhinandan: So Did you watch Animal walked out? I
Radhika: did. Fine. Couldn't take
Abhinandan: it. Okay. But thank you [01:08:00] so much. Uh, we hope when the election is underway, we will host you in our office.
Yeah. I will come to your office next time. So that would be fantastic. And we can have a more detailed discussion on, uh, when all the lists are out. That should be interesting. Yeah. Thank you Abhinandan. Thanks Radhika. Thank you. All right. On that note, let's get on the emails. We only entertain the emails of subscribers.
You can write to us at podcasts. at newsline. com. I repeat podcasts at newsline. com. I can just click on the link in the show notes below. It'll open out a form, which is basically your feedback for our podcasts. It'll prompt you on what all you have to fill. There's a word limit, so I would request you please stay within the word limit.
And if you're not a subscriber, subscribe and then mail us and we would like to know what you have to say. We welcome all sorts of inputs, critique, appreciation, feedback, suggestions, all of that. So let's start with G1, who says, Johnny, this is blackmail. Okay. For those who didn't get that joke, Jivan [01:09:00] was a villain of the days of Jivan, and this is fun.
J Re father And whose father? Jwe Japanese father? No, no, no. That Isep Javan. I'm not sure. But there was very famous dialogue of his, I think his son is standing on the roof and says, I'll jump off if you don't get me something. John, he was a willingness.
Anand: He's
Raman: speaker some kind of, uh, audio means of, uh, jivan from Mother India
Abhinandan: also.
Oh, really? So Jivan says, sorry, Giva. We just went on after your name. I'm afraid. A very nice guy and not willingness at all. I'm intrigued by the trend in Bollywood over the past decade. Very significant majority of big screen releases, including films like Patan Tiger Three Fighter and Article 33 70.
Along with forthcoming ones like Yodha, heavily feature themes of hyper nationalism, patriotism or religion. It seems the industry is moving away from authentic storytelling. I'm curious about Raman sir's or any panel member's view on whether Bollywood will continue to [01:10:00] serve as a political tool, especially with election oriented releases like the Yatra movie in which Lastly, I wonder if there's been any analysis to the political inclinations and expectations of 18 to 28 age group regarding the 2029 elections.
Are they being exposed to a diverse range of political ideologies or is there a predominant lean towards right wing politics? So I have something to share on, on the Bollywood bit, but on the others, I really, I don't know where the 1820 gets its news from. Do any of you have any bits? You interact with a lot of young people.
Anand, are they getting, are they being exposed to a variety of, you know, political viewpoints? And, and information or is it just, I mean, is it just legacy media so it's all just right wing nuttiness? Arnab
Raman: must be interacting with students who have been studying Hindu and Express, right?
Anand: Yes, but my classmates.
Raman: Oh yeah,
Abhinandan: classmates, yes. So, I mean, where do they get their, I'm not sure they watch TV actually. [01:11:00] No, TV
Anand: viewership has gone down, not because of these reasons, because of the, because of the changing nature of the digital interface. And also people who are very committed to reading in print, they read newspapers.
So that is one. No, I have also the, when we say media, it's very comprehensive term. So in there, the kind of media is, uh, Referring to, that's a part of it, but to media in India is very diverse means the language. Yes. So many. So it's very difficult to say like a very generalized statement about making being made about Indian media is a very risky proposition because, because you can, it can always be countered by a say, here
Abhinandan: is this, here is that.
Um, that's kind of true in most generalizations, but I think in our case, language is one major factor of all, but. Generally, the [01:12:00] impact of legacy media, I guess people, at least our viewers, are on English and Hindi, which is pretty homogenous. There are not significant outliers there, other than maybe one Hindu newspaper or something.
But, uh, you know, coming to the hyper nationalism, it's, uh, it's basically engineered. Jerry Shin had written two pieces for the Washington Post. The links will be in the show notes below. Uh, it's a part of a larger plan or a strategy of the ruling dispensation of having a particular kind of film. I mean, it is very unlikely you'll see an Amar Akbar Anthony type of film right now.
It will be more what you're seeing. Then Udalak Aruni says, I'm surprised that in 474, there was a complete disregard for 20th century history as panelists discussed collectivization of agriculture and price control as if they're normal concepts, USSR, China, even African nations. Have implemented these policies leading to disaster, famine, and poverty.
Almost like politicians in Bihar and elsewhere advocating [01:13:00] for liquor bans seem oblivious to past failures. The U. S. prohibition era in the 1920s resulted in the growth of mafia and black markets. like consequences seen in Bihar. Moreover, the discussion overlooks the lack of innovation and agriculture, particularly in India, to some extent, even in Europe.
Uncertainty in any industry can only be reduced by technology, fintech, contract farming, futures trading, biotech, GMOs and advanced irrigation, automation, etc. Government controls hamper these innovations, not markets. Can you imagine NL without market funding and with price controls? It would be Prasad Bharti.
So, um, uh, Udalak, two things. I mean, maybe we've read different things. Uh, the example, you have a USSR and China are very extreme examples. I mean, you're giving a commune system, which is very different from cooperatives. In fact, cooperatives have worked. In fact, Maharashtra has agricultural cooperatives.
Secondly, I think it was made very clear that Agriculture is unlike any other business because from input to [01:14:00] output, the uncertainties are spread out and are dramatic and they're beyond anyone's control. And at least in my reading and, you know, maybe next I'll make a note of it. I'll, I'll give links next time.
Uh, the. Uh, disasters caused because of contract farming and futures trading to small farmers, at least from what I have read, have destroyed farming, farming communities. Uh, so I'm not sure where, because I know for a fact in Mexico, uh, when, uh, big, when U S and the Washington consensus pushed contract farming, how it completely wiped out farmers because these potato chip or corn type, they put, you know, ask them to grow something.
And then they were the only ones who were there to buy. And the negotiating was completely not unequal. You have big MNCs and you have small farmers. So I have read back then, I don't know [01:15:00] which book it was, um, around the time I read Bhagwati and you know, there were all these pro market and anti market books.
So. Everything is not the same. Like you're saying, can you end it without market funding? Of course, because we are criticizing the government. But so in which case, uh, are you saying that we should also privatize, um, or let, let the market decide, uh, Water, that is one of the main things or justice or access to clean air.
Of course, it's always a balance. It's not like market will decide or government will decide. But, uh, I, I, from what I know, I would never leave agriculture to the market. No chance. Even
Raman: we are not fully market driven society. The government has decided to control the price of petrol. So they are doing so.
They have also, they have been controlling the price for GST. If you minutely look at the, you know, trends, the way the GST increases and the way GST comes down. [01:16:00] So, so we are not fully market driven society.
Abhinandan: Yeah. And if you want to give the example of NL, well, VP 18 percent GST, print doesn't. Okay. very much.
Is that fair? I don't think it's fair, but you know, should nobody pay GST because of that? Or should everybody pay the same GST? I think it's, the discussion is a little more nuanced than
Raman: that. And we are, we are small shark
Abhinandan: and the prints are the big one. Then Shrikant says, Hi NL team. Thank you for the fantastic work.
Love reading, listening and watching NL Hafta. Newsom's daily reports. I feel better informed with all the daily reports. It looks like you have unlocked an achievement which is a DDOS attack. Someone definitely is upset with you and are spending money to DDOS you in Q247. It's probably an institution with deep pockets.
Hats off to Chitranshu and team on mitigating it. The attack might have put a financial burden on you by the web hosting company. I hope the hosting company didn't charge you for the malicious traffic. Thank you Manisha for documenting the degradation of media over the years through nuisance. I'm sure we will in [01:17:00] future look back and see how the TV media failed a nation.
Keep up the phenomenal work. Thank you so much, Srikanth. Appreciate it. I shall communicate your appreciation of Chitranshu's work. And uh, no, all the people are our partners working with us have been fairly decent and reasonable at this time. Then anonymous said there was a suicide in Kerala college of a boy who was allegedly tortured by SFI goons and being kept naked and hungry for three days.
I don't have to check this anonymous, but I'm assuming you're giving accurate information. The Malayalam media ran several stories yet same was not even mentioned, let alone discussed in Hafta. Is it because of bias? Doesn't the horrible thing happening in Kerala or TN important for your team? Can you let the listeners know how many wrongdoings of governments in Kerala and TN has your South reporter or even your collaborator news minutes reported on Hafta?
And then you say you are independent, unbiased, non BJP parties get such kid gloves treatment. So Anonymous, we have never said we're unbiased. In fact, we have very clearly said that unbiased as a concept in news is [01:18:00] people who don't know the meaning of the word, toss it around. Secondly, assuming what you're saying is true, there was a horrific rape of that Spanish, um, in Jharkhand.
We haven't discussed that either. Uh, we don't have reporters in the South. I'll check with the News Minute. So generally I'm telling you in life advice. You should come to a conversation from a position of curiosity, not just venting, because it's very easy to completely destroy someone who's venting, because it isn't thought through.
Uh, there have been not one, but about a dozen horrific rapes that I have seen in the last one week. Not one of them has been discussed right now here. Sometimes they're discussed when there is a political, it becomes a political event, it becomes a movement, it becomes Like the Delhi one happened. So everything is not, don't be on a social media hair trigger, bro.
It's just not good for your brain, for your emotional state, and for your general level of understanding the world around you. Bruised [01:19:00] Wayne says, Bruised Wayne, nice name, Bruised Wayne. Sudipto bhai, please do video interview series, Ben Stokes, maja aayega dekhne. Yes, I agree, hopefully in another month or two we will have Sudipto doing a video show.
Then Jaya says, 163 words, Jaya, that's way too long. So Jaya, this is breach of the word count. But anyway, what you said is regarding the discussion in Hafta 474 in the news minutes, uh, colleagues contribution, the whole issue was a complete farce. Positions are made by J and A, what's J and A, Jayshree and Abhirandan and it was clear Mr.
Mandal had a different position, but he kept arguing about what happened when the Congress was in power and would not just let it go. Mr. Rathi's video spoke about many reasons asking the question, is India heading to a dictatorship, where as both Mr. Mandal and Mr. Abhirandan Not the newsman at Mr. Mandal, but the one who had written the print, Dilip Mandal.
In his letter and subsequent video, stressed more about what Congress did and that the present government is doing less of it. Is that [01:20:00] even an argument? I cannot understand why the discussion was not cut short by Abhinandan. We have heard dissent in Hafta and I enjoy listening to different opinions, but this was a bit too much.
The redemption was the clip on Buddha. At the end and the reliefs that I did not need to hear Mr. Mandal anymore. Alright, she'll communicate that. Anuni Nonymous writes. That's Anuni, first name. Nonymous, second name. I had to binge here some haftas due to an issue with my subscription a few weeks ago. When some of you were sick, there was a casual discussion on antibiotics.
Amoxicillin thrown in for good measure. I'd like each one of you, including any panel members, to answer this question. What is antibiotics? and antibiotic resistance. Please wait for responses. Do you know what is antibiotics resistance?
Raman: Uh, yeah. Means when they stop reacting to you, the antibiotic.
Abhinandan: Basically when you stop, do you know what is antibiotic resistance? I know,
Anand: but as
Abhinandan: a layman, this
Anand: person means in India, it is said that antibiotics have [01:21:00] been prescribed too much and people have taken too much. So they have developed a kind of resistance to it.
Abhinandan: And what is an antibiotic? No, I mean, I think what I understood of antibiotic is anything that is biotic.
It is anti that what I mean is that it kills bacteria, uh, anything that kills bacteria, which is why when you take antibiotics and you get gas, they give you probiotic, no? So that good bacteria gets formed. So my understanding of antibiotic is. Anything that kills bacteria or virus is an antibiotic, and antibiotic resistance is when it doesn't work on you.
An
Raman: antibiotic is stronger medicine than the normal one.
Abhinandan: So then, Anonymous says, Now please evaluate how many of you said this. Antibiotics are drugs that are consumed to treat infections caused by bacteria and does not work in case of viral infections such as flu, common cold and such. Antibiotic resistance is resistance of infection causing bacteria against the antibiotic we consumed.
And is [01:22:00] exacerbated by irregular or liberal consumption of antibiotics when not required, such as during viral infection or as comfort food, and through fail to adhere to antibiotic dosage plan. There is very little awareness about this in India. Thank you, Anonymous. Then Dr. Skeptic says, Dear Abhinandan, your LTA on Israel Palestine issue was very disappointing.
There was no clarity on the chronology of events. One second you were discussing the October attack, the next you were discussing Arab Israel war. Please compare this to the Empire podcast, which gives us a step by step context of what happened. My biggest criticism is extremely biased panel, with the exception of Stanley Johnny, who truly gets the subject, but is still slightly sympathetic to the Palestinian cause.
The Israeli journalist has been sympathetic to Palestinians all his life. Indian ambassador, Uh, could not give specifics about how Arab Israeli citizens are second class. Not factual. Why could you not find a single person who represented the Israeli state Jewish nationalist side? None of the views expressed by panelists were challenged by people [01:23:00] sympathetic to Israel.
I assure you there's a whole other side to the story which LTA missed. Uh, so Dr. Skeptic, first of all, thank you for listening to it. I mean, yeah, I, I definitely think I haven't heard it myself, but I know, um, this podcast is talking about. which is Empire, which is a part of, um, and the rest is history, which is in my view, the best podcast I've heard.
Uh, and this Empire comes out from that same family of podcast producers. So we are nowhere close to that level because we don't even spend that much time, energy, effort, resources, and money on a podcast. But we selected our panels based on what we thought had a rational view. It wasn't the pro Palestinian view and the pro Israeli view.
I mean, if you're saying an Israeli journalist who writes for one of the most, you know, well read and respected newspapers in Israel is a pro Palestinian voice and therefore is not credible, uh, then I'm not sure. I mean, we had a long discussion who we should have because if you remember earlier, I had said that we'll have this as a [01:24:00] LTA with just subscribers because a lot of subscribers had written in on this.
We got most mails on the Israel Palestine conflict. Then some subscribers said that rather than get subscribers only to payload their Gyan, get some academics, experts in the subject and talk about that. At least we'll be informed rather than just subscribers arguing with each other. So we selected panelists who we think have a lot of experience and work from those areas and In my view, you know, the journalist you're talking about, uh, he's reported that from there for over four decades.
I'd rather have him there than someone who's a pro Israel voice sitting here, uh, you know, so, uh, yeah, that's. That's my view, but, yeah, we could have had more voices, but then it would carry on. Then Rohit Mehrotra says, So Yusuf has got to do video podcasts interviewing people because the way he makes his arguments, points, is subtle and grounded in logic.
The way he speaks is calming yet probing. He looks dashing. And then, [01:25:00] uh, Commander Shepherd has a 581 word email, which Commander Shepherd we shall save for next time because we have a lot of emails this time and you have not just, you can
Anand: add a hundred words to it and it'll be an article. ,
Abhinandan: you heard him?
Raman: So you write 6 81 words, ,
Abhinandan: that's sort of says, can you please ask a video editor to add the name of the soundtracks that are being used in videos or podcasts? It's real. for them via Google or Shazam. Also, what's the soundtrack used in teaser of Israel Palestine and during Abinandan's epilogue in Israel Palestine.
We shall mail you with this information. Aryan here is sitting a producer and he shall email you this information, Sarath. Then Sudipth Roy says, This is a short follow up mail to my last week's letter. Sudipth your email is 230 words. It's not a short follow up. Uh, this is our farmer's agitation.
Basically what you're saying is, Devendra Sharma's statement that average income from farming in India is 27 per day. [01:26:00] And then quoted situation has been a survey you've said as per that survey should be 341 per day because it's 10218 a month. Uh, so it cannot be twenties and it's also five years old.
That doesn't tell us anything about income disparity among different agrarian, but that is not what the data is claiming to say. So that that data is only talking. And if you just go, if you just Google this. Uh, 27 per day and, uh, situation assessment survey of farmer households. You'll come across enough experts and professors who have quoted this and I'll check with Divender how he comes to 27 a day because by your calculation 10 to 18 divided by 30 it should be.
I don't, I don't know where the household income is what they're talking about or, um, per person we can figure that out. There is enough out there about this data is the most comprehensive farming data available in our country. Now, if it's not good enough for you, fair enough, but there is nothing more comprehensive than this right now.
And until there is, we'll have to go with this. [01:27:00] The same logic by you think per capita income is. is is. Oh, forget that. You think our HNI is the official number of HNIs that we have, you think it's credible and a lot of black money being sold, but that's the only data we have. So even we outside that data.
So, uh, you know, skepticism is fantastic. Great. Thank you so much for your, uh, uh, inputs and your participation and discussion. I will check how the mathematics, uh, you know, when you say it should be three 41 and not 27. Thanks everyone. I'll check but I, I, uh, I'm pretty certain I saw a professor from JNU who had deconstructed this data and that person had actually come up with 27 and that has, you know, been quoted not just by people like Devinder but by very credible academics as well.
Then Jabeen says, 234 words. I'm addicted to both hafta and charcha. And this [01:28:00] feels like I'm writing to friends. I'm very sorry about the length of this letter but it's hard to be angry in short. Oh ho, you're angry. While I completely support Sudipto's view that Dalits have been oppressed under every ruler, I disagree when he says Modi and Indira are the same.
I was five years old when the emergency was declared and grew up during the height of the Indira years. All my life, I've seen a robust culture of dissent and protests. As a Muslim, I saw hints of discrimination, but none of my family could have ever imagined the naked hate that we face now. Activist students, ordinary folk at work, everyone around me is despondent and fearful.
I'm very sure that any child raised in this Modi Rajya will have a very different experience. It's far from being the same thing, if only you look beyond one's own narrow identity politics. This is exactly like Sanders supporters in the U. S. who enabled Trump's rise by refusing to vote for Hillary Clinton, declaring that they were both the same.
On another topic, I wonder where exactly the Ambani's are. Quote unquote rescued those elephants from since Gujarat isn't an elephant habitat. The animals must have been captured and transferred from quite far How is that [01:29:00] legal or good in any way, Jabeen? Jabeen, I think this whole elephant indulgence of theirs I think enough questions can be asked but that's a very long long report.
But yeah, I think they have 600 elephants It's a good question that how did they find 600 injured elephants and get 600 elephants there? Uh, but yeah, I mean, I, I don't know, in
Raman: many cases, the environmentalist, they had protested, uh, when, uh, you know, elephants were moved out of Northeast, they had gone to the court.
So there was a long fight. I said
Abhinandan: they got elephants from Northeast.
Raman: There was a long fight over it. And then the court after, you know, uh, instituting a committee, they saw everything and it was the court which instructed that these
Abhinandan: elephants. So, yeah, uh, but thank you for your subscription. Thank you all for your feedback, for your inputs.
I do keep them coming, podcasts at newslondon. com, but please keep them below 150 words so we can include a lot more so we can have more discussion and lesser [01:30:00] time just talking about whether we were right or wrong. We want that as an important part of the hafta, but you know, the discussions become shorter and shorter when the males become longer and longer.
On that note, let's get the recommendations for the week. Raman sir, what would you
Raman: recommend? I would recommend our, uh, you know, paywall story inside Northeast India's biggest media empire, Himanta Vishwas Sarma's journey. So, uh, Pratyush, uh, our colleague has done one good story, you know, about the CM and his wife, how they have acquired.
Uh, the media, you know, audio visual as well as print, uh, over a period of time and how they are projecting the, uh, the CM, you know, and they, they, this media has got a very good hold over the local population. So good story. Please do read. And, uh, second recommendation is, I think Manisha had once, uh, recommended it and I saw it.
Last week, [01:31:00] managed to finish it succession, uh, is again, uh, I mean, if you really, you are from, you're working for the corporate world or you're, you're in media. So the agony and ecstasy of the corporate world is beautifully made, very, very well made. So I saw the season for, uh, so it has already got four season.
It's a very well made, uh, you know, TV serial succession, which is available on Geo cinema.
Abhinandan: Anand. Oh,
Anand: okay. So we discussed today the cases about the immunity of parliamentarians. So to the publicly available cases, um, the case which gave rise to it, 98, uh, P V Narsimha Rao versus the SCM. state. So it will be available on a number of sites, law sites.
Yeah. So, uh, that is important to juxtapose against the current ruling and see how privileges are, [01:32:00] uh, defined in legislative working, uh, particularly, um, under. Section 1 94 2 and 105 2, uh, 105 2 for Parliament and 1 94, 2 for the state legislature. Second is a, um, novel. I, uh, by a writer that generally I like his writings, um, new Che and, uh, his latest book, it is, it may sound, uh, bit.
bland and philosophical in nature, but it is not. It is a Lorenzo searches for the meaningful of life. So it's about an Italian who, whose life goes into reverse gear by his 20 something and gets, uh, Keen to search for meaning and life and later deals with the banalities of life and responsibilities so a number of Themes which [01:33:00] so how banal spirituality can also get so that is What it is also it is a Uh, it is different from his usual writings.
Uh, so it's, uh, he has explored, uh, new themes. So that's that. These are only my two recommendations
Abhinandan: this week. So I have one recommendation, which is, uh, it's a BBC podcast called The Global Story, the episode on, uh, Manchester City. That, how. Manchester city's business model is transforming football. That's an interesting, um, podcast because, you know, Manchester City done been a lot, a lot of criticism and some attacks.
And I think they've also been fine. Uh, and what they're doing, they're not the first ones to do. Other clubs have also done this whole multi club ownership and how one club feeds into the other, but it's been explained pretty comprehensively. And now with there being so much money being thrown in from the Gulf, et cetera, et cetera.
[01:34:00] I mean, it's, it's interesting to see how any, anything, including the beautiful game can get completely corrupted by money, but, uh, yet, which is why regulation is an important aspect of any structure. Uh, you know, you can't just have no regulation because that just skews any market, any world, any contest, but yeah, it's a good episode.
On that note, I'd like to thank our sound recordist, Anil, and our producer, Aryan. Uh, we shall be back next week, where hopefully everyone will be in town at the same time after a long time. And we will bring you Hafta with a full force. Until then, we'll leave you with this song. Have a fantastic weekend.
Bye bye. Call him Mr. Wrong, call him Mr. Vain, call him Mr. Raider, call him Mr. Wrong, call him insane, I know what I want and I want it now, [01:35:00] cause I'm Mr. Vain, I know what I want and I want it now.
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