Left, Right & Centre

The gates of the Sabarimala temple opened at 5 pm this evening for a period of two months. This is the third time the temple has opened since the Supreme Court on September 28 allowed women of all ages to enter the shrine. Amid unrelenting protests by devotees and political workers, over 15,000 policemen are posted in and around Sabarimala and teams of commandos and disaster response personnel are on standby. Meanwhile, the Travancore Devaswom Board, which manages the Ayyappa temple, has decided to approach the Supreme Court seeking more time to implement its verdict on the entry of women.

The Supreme Court, in a marathon four-hour-long hearing, heard arguments on the Rs 59,000 crore Rafale jet deal, from both the government and the petitioners who want it to be probed. In the end, the court has reserved it's order. The process itself something we have never seen before: a defence deal being questioned and scrutanised in this way by the country's top court.

Former civil servants, 60 of them, write an open letter, questioning what they call an "unconscionable and unwarranted delay" by the top auditor, the CAG, in its reports on the Rafale deal, and the impact of demonetization. Now, is the institution of the CAG also being undermined?

The Supreme Court agrees to review its landmark verdict on allowing all women to enter the Sabarimala temple. All the petitions against it will be heard in January. Is it possible for faith and reason to reconcile? We debate on Left, Right and Centre.

The 2018 assembly elections finally kick off with Chhattisgarh voting in the first phase today with another round in Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telegana and Mizoram left to go. Are these state elections really a semi final for 2019? will they be a referendum on the Modi government or do local factors play a role?

A study by the BBC on fake news trends in India has shown that nationalism is driving ordinary citizens to spread fake news and that there is an overlap of fake news sources on Twitter and support networks of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Is there an organised effort to spread fake news?

Tonight on Left, Right and Centre, we take a look at the name-changing politics of the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh. This has led to more demands of names being changed, of even the world famous city of Agra. But there has been criticism as well and allegations that this is being done to cover up failures of the government on the development front. But more worrying is the kind of message this sends: the changing of Muslim sounding names to Hindu ones.

On the eve of the first round of elections, with Chhattisgarh voting in Phase 1 on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi talks about "Urban Naxals" for the first time, saying they sit in AC rooms and remote control tribals. He accused the Congress of shielding them, but who are 'urban Naxals' anyway? Are they really Maoists seeking to overthrow the state, or is this a term being used to hit out at anyone who dissents against the government?

Tonight on Left, Right and Centre, we take a look at the name-changing politics of the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh. This has led to more demands of names being changed, of even the world famous city of Agra. But there has been criticism as well and allegations that this is being done to cover up failures of the government on the development front. But more worrying is the kind of message this sends: the changing of Muslim sounding names to Hindu ones.