News and Views

Arvind Kejriwal would make Delhi an El Dorado if the capital were to get full statehood. That was the main thrust of the Aam Aadmi Party’s election manifesto which was launched on Thursday, 25 April. The 35-page document made an array of promises — and the subtext of almost every promise was that it would come to pass only after Delhi attained full statehood, which the AAP would fight for if voters elected its candidates from all of Delhi’s seven Lok Sabha seats.

The chief minister and his party have long sought full statehood for Delhi. And there are justifiable reasons for that. But AAP’s manifesto must also be viewed in the context of an almost moral force that Kejriwal sought to imbue it with.

For more podcasts from The Quint, check out our Podcasts section.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mahua Moitra is the Trinamool Congress' candidate from the Krishnanagar constituency in West Bengal. Mahua's journey from the Vice President of JP Morgan in London to the spokesperson, MLA and now MP-candidate from the Trinamool has written 

As has been her Louis Vuitton bag, being anointed as the “Most Charming Woman in Kolkata” by a magazine many years ago, her sarees, her over-sized sunglasses and her “mem-saheb” image.

For this interview, though, we decided to skip the last bit. Listen to the podcast now!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The name Utsav Bains has triggered chatter in Supreme Court corridors ever since he claimed that he was “offered bribe to help frame CJI (Chief Justice of India) in the sexual harassment case”. In his affidavit to the SC, he said that he was offered Rs 50 lakh as legal fees to take up the sexual harassment case against the CJI by a former SC staff. But when he refused to defend the victim, he says, he was offered Rs 1.5 crore.

The Quint learnt from a few lawyers that Bains is a friend/acquaintance of the CJI’s close relative. When The Quint asked him about it, he said:

“If anyone in this universe can prove that I have any relation with the kin of CJI Rajan Gogoi, I would accept the punishment to be hanged outside the Supreme Court for lying through the teeth and would also leave my legal practice.”

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By announcing Ajay Rai as its candidate from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress has almost ended speculation that party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in this high-profile seat.

But the last date for filing nominations in Varanasi, which votes in the last phase of polling, is on 29 April and there could still be a twist in the tale.

A Congress leader, who has been closely involved with the party’s campaign in Uttar Pradesh, disclosed that the issue hasn’t been closed as yet.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has suggested his country was preparing for ‘another Wuhan’, a high level summit once again between President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Obviously this cannot happen before the Indian parliamentary elections are over – but the Chinese foreign minister seems to be suggesting that Modi will be back in power anyway.

The Chinese, for all their other strengths, are not known for their understanding of complex elections – and for obvious reasons. But though they don’t have to worry about elections back home, the Chinese have to closely monitor elections in other countries, especially in the neighborhood or where they have made much investments with long-term calculations.

For more podcasts from The Quint, check out our Podcasts section.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices