Left, Right & Centre

From Sabarimala to the Ram Mandir, the temple makes it front and centre to the political discourse. As the RSS Chief first bats for a consensus on allowing women into Sabarimala, and then says the government should bring in a law if needed to build a Ram Temple, is this going to be the BJP's main poll plank in 2019?

On Left, Right and Centre, MJ Akbar's defamation case against journalist Priya Ramani. Today was Day One, where the court rejected Akbar's attempt to take his written statement and ordered him to appear in person instead. As the Editors' Guild urges Mr Akbar to take back his lawsuit, is criminal defamation nothing but a tool of intimidation and harassment?

Facing intense pressure, MJ Akbar finally resigns as Minister of State for External Affairs. This comes as 20 women signed a statement wanting to testify against him in court. Will these women get justice for what they have been through? Watch the debate on Left, Right and Centre.

Defying a Supreme Court order, which has thrown open the Sabarimala temple to women of all ages, protesters today resorted to violence and intimidation to prevent women devotees from going inside. They even roughed up women reporters. The protesters say this is all about preserving their tradition. But what kind of faith justifies the use of violence? And whatever happens to the rule of law?

As winter slowly sets in in North India, so is the toxic smog. The air quality in Delhi has fallen so badly already that the government's graded response action plan came into effect this week. But will this be enough? Clearly not. And what of the farm fire in Punjab and Haryana which are still a major concern. On Left, Right and Centre tonight, we have Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh answering some tough questions.

On Left, Right and Centre, we discuss the showdown likely tomorrow at the Sabarimala Temple in Kerala, where in accordance with Supreme Court orders, women of all ages are expected to be allowed in. Many are far from happy with the court's directive and are geared to protest tomorrow.

On a day when two defamation cases were filed by Union Minister MJ Akbar and actor Alok Nath, against journalist Priya Ramani and filmmaker and writer Vinta Nanda respectively, Left Right and Centre discusses if victims are being made the criminals in the #MeToo debate in India. Priya Ramani has hit back at the defamation suit, saying the truth and the absolute truth is her defence, while Vinta Nanda tells NDTV, she is considering filing a legal case against her alleged harasser Alok Nath. She also says, she supports Priya Ramani, her message for the journalist, 'I'm with you, sister'.

Hitting back at actor Alok Nath for his defamation suit against her, writer-producer Vinta Nanda has told NDTV she will fight it and may file her own case against him. Ms Nanda has accused the veteran TV actor of raping her more than once 19 years ago. "I am on the side of the truth. I have no issues. I will fight it to the end because now that I have got into it, I have to take it to its logical end," she told NDTV today.

Election season seems to have well and truly arrived in Chhattisgarh. In what's being seen as a big blow to the Congress, four-time MLA and Congress Working President Ram Dayal Uike, who is also one of the most influential Tribal leader in the state has joined the BJP in front of Amit Shah with just weeks to go before the elections. Tonight on Left, Right and Centre we ask, is it advantage BJP once again in Chhattisgarh?