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Hafta 514: Return of George Soros, BJP’s Maharashtra play, Manipur crisis
This week, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal and Jayashree Arunachalam are joined by author Chetan Bhagat, academic Sarthak Bagchi, and journalist Dhiren A Sadokpam to discuss the Maharashtra government formation, the increased violence in Manipur, and the ‘foreign hand’ allegations against OCCRP.
On BJP’s campaign in Maharashtra, Chetan says, “A little bit of humility has come to the BJP. The whole talk of building a larger than life image – the party feels that the voters don’t need it right now.” Sarthak explains how the BJP may absorb Shiv Sainiks in the state, saying the party “wants to establish hegemonic dominance”.
Moving on to the BJP’s ‘US propaganda’ allegations and primetime outrage against OCCRP, Abhinandan says, “I just find it fascinating that Indian media that is surviving on sarkari patronage is outraging about another media surviving on sarkari patronage.”
Dhiren then explains the spike in violence in Manipur and what it’s like to live in a state of war. “We need to understand the intersection between insurgency, ethnic violence, poppy cultivation, and national security,” he says.
This and a lot more. Tune in!
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Watch the full video here:
Audio timecodes
00:00:00 - Introductions
00:04:36 - Announcements
00:15:00 - Headlines
00:19:00 - OCCRP controversy
00:32:41 - Maharashtra government formation
01:20:00 - New wave of violence in Manipur?
00:49:38 - Maharashtra election results
01:57:30 - Letters
02:06:30 - Recommendations
Check out previous Hafta recommendations, references, songs and letters
Produced & recorded by Priyali Dhingra and Prashant Kumar, edited by Hassan Bilal.
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