Left, Right & Centre

Sri Lankans roamed through a ransacked presidential palace on Sunday as calm returned to the commercial capital, Colombo, a day after protesters barged into the building and forced President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to announce his resignation. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has said he would step down to allow an all-party interim government to take over, with Rajapaksa scheduled to quit on July 13, according to the speaker.

Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa will resign next Wednesday, after months of protest against him amid an unprecedented economic crisis. The Speaker will become the President for 30 days during which Parliament will elected a new leader.

Boris Johnson resigned from the post of British Prime Minister on Thursday - this comes after a slew of MPs quit his government, led by prominent ministers Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid. While the immediate cause for the loss of confidence in Johnson appeared to be outrage over his appointment of Chris Pincher to his government despite allegedly knowing of his history of sexual misconduct, his ministry was also facing criticism for mounting economic pressures, and a cost-of-living crisis. Tonight on Left, Right & Centre, we ask: what next for the UK?

A new subvariant of Omicron has been detected in India as well as other countries; this news comes amid India reporting almost 19,000 fresh Covid cases in 24 hours. According to the WHO, globally reported cases have increased by nearly 30% over the past two weeks. Chief Scientist at the WHO Dr Soumya Swaminathan spoke to NDTV about the details of this subvariant called BA.2.75, and what it could mean for the world.

A battle erupted between Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra and the BJP after the former made remarks on Goddess Kali that sparked a social media row, with #kali trending on Twitter. A BJP leader filed an FIR against Ms Moitra, accusing her of hurting religious sentiments, while her own party, the TMC, distanced itself from her comments, stating that they had been made in personal capacity and were not a party-endorsed view. So where does that leave Mahua Moitra?

On Tuesday, Twitter took the government of India to court for the inordinate number of requests from the government to block Twitter accounts. Sources tell NDTV that the writ is because the government orders are overbroad and arbitrary, fail to provide notice to the content originators, are disproportionate in several cases and that several requests pertain to political content posted by official handles of political parties. Tonight's episode of Left, Right & Centre asks, are Twitter accounts being arbitrarily suspended?

 

After more than 20 days behind bars, a group of young men thrashed mercilessly by the UP police in Saharanpur have been released - with the judge telling the police that "they don't own the city, and cannot just arrest and beat anyone." Tonight's episode of Left, Right & Centre returns to the story that NDTV tracked closely and examines this extra-judicial beating, with the question: will the police get away with this?

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde won the floor test comfortably in Maharashtra on Monday, this amid 10 Congress and 7 NCP MLAs staying away from the confidence vote. The question we ask on tonight's episode of Left, Right & Centre is - as Uddhav Thackeray loses the government, will he lose his party next? Is it the end of the political road for brand Thackeray?

The BJPs big push for the South. The BJP National Executive in Hyderabad where in their political resolution the party makes it clear "We will rule for the next 30 to 40 years". The name of Hyderabad may eventually be changed to Bhagyanagar, says the BJP. Hitting out directly at the ruling TRS, the BJP says India is fed up of dynasty politics. The TRS hit back saying, "The BJP is bringing down democratically elected government' and that the PM is using the CBI and ED against opposition leaders." It's a face-off between the BJP and the TRS and that's our debate on Left Right & Centre.

 

The Deputy Commissioner of Police in Amravati today confirmed that the murder last month of Umesh Kolhe was linked to the comments made by the BJP spokesperson against Prophet Mohammad. This against the backdrop of India calling the US Report on International Religious Freedom 'biased and inaccurate'. Who is to blame for the creation of this 'environment of hate' in India?