Newslaundry Interviews

Bihar is now the first state in India to simultaneously recruit three transgender persons as sub-inspectors in the state police. Among the 1,275 candidates who cracked the sub-inspector recruitment examination held by the Bihar Police Subordinate Services Commission, three of them broke several stereotypes – Manvi Madhu Kashyap, who identifies as a transwoman, and two transmen, Ronit Jha and Bunty Kumar.

The three of them prepared for the exam at the coaching centre of Guru Rehman, alias Motiur Rehman Khan in Patna, after they were refused training by several coaching centres. Rehman, who is also popular as “Daroga Guru” in Bihar, spoke to Newslaundry about the many challenges faced by his transgender students and breaking stereotypes.

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The cancellation of the FCRA licence “has nothing to do with technicalities. It [the government] is weaponising FCRA and using it as a political tool against organisations that are critical of the government,” said Joe Athialy, executive director of the Centre for Financial Accountability. Last week, the FCRA licence of the CFA’s parent entity, India Institute for Critical Action Centre, was cancelled citing “errors” in tax filings.

In a conversation with Newslaundry, Athialy alleged that the government has “double standards” for civil society groups and India Inc. “Consider that a company had some erroneous filings. This doesn’t mean that tomorrow the company will shut down.”

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Manickam Tagore, a three-time Congress MP from Tamil Nadu’s Virudhunagar, is one of the fierce opposition voices in the Parliament. In the 18th session of the Lok Sabha, Tagore raised the issue of the restricted media access to the parliament.  

In a conversation with Newslaundry, the Congress leader spoke about the changes in parliamentary proceedings, INDIA bloc’s strategy for the next five years, Rahul Gandhi’s stance on media, and the NEET controversy. 

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Samajwadi Party leader Pushpendra Saroj had turned 25 years old just two weeks before the announcement of the Lok Sabha polls. He managed to win UP’s Kaushambi seat by defeating the BJP’s Vinod Sonkar, a two-time MP, with a margin of over 1 lakh votes.

In a conversation with Newslaundry, he spoke about his decision to contest the elections, his political agenda, and the role played by youth in the country’s politics.

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The Ram Janmabhoomi and Babri mosque dispute in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya dominated Indian politics for three decades, culminating in the grand inauguration of the Ram temple by Prime Minister Narendra Modi months ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. It also became the main poll plank of the BJP.  

But the Faizabad constituency, which comprises Ayodhya, was won by Samajwadi Party’s veteran leader Awadhesh Prasad. The Dalit leader defeated two-time BJP MP Lallu Singh with a margin of 54,000 votes. In a setback to the saffron party, the SP won a total of 37 Lok Sabha seats in UP. 

In this conversation with Newslaundry, Prasad spoke about his victory in Ayodhya, the “real Ram bhakts”, BJP’s politics vs Samajwadi Party’s PDA, and the problems of the people of Ayodhya.

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Amra Ram, 69, is a first-time MP from Rajasthan’s Sikar constituency and prominent face among farmers across India, especially Rajasthan. On the first day of the 18th Lok Sabha session, the lone CPIM MP from the desert state rode a tractor to the parliament in Delhi.

In this conversation with Newslaundry, Ram spoke about why he rode a tractor to the parliament, Modi government, INDIA bloc “halting Modi’s dictatorship”, laws that need to be revoked, and the Left front’s dwindling electoral fortunes and dismal influence in Rajasthan. 

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Once barred from the national capital for four weeks over his protest against the CAA-NRC, Chandrashekhar Azad has returned to Delhi as the MP elect from Nagina in Uttar Pradesh. The Bhim Army chief and leader of Azad Samaj Party - Kanshi Ram secured the Lok Sabha seat with a victory margin of more than 1.5 lakh votes. In a conversation with Newslaundry, the first-time MP spoke about his future strategy, Mayawati, alliances, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.   

On his political trajectory, Azad said, “Society keeps changing from time to time. At one time, I was with Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar. After him, I was with the Congress under the leadership of Babu Jagjivan Ram. Then Kashiram ji, and then with behanji for a long time… Behanji is our leader and we have always received her blessings.”

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Over the past decade, the BJP has been fighting tooth and nail to make inroads in southern politics. The Congress, meanwhile, has pushed the narrative of an “iron wall” between the north and south.    

The grand old party has a stronger grassroot presence and nuanced pitch, while the BJP’s approach in the region is decentralised, with “voices from the ground being heard” from each constituency. The electoral pitch, however, is focused on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.        

In Bengaluru, Manisha Pande and Pooja Prasanna speak to author Sugata Srinivasaraju, senior journalist Maya Sharma and BJP spokesperson Surabhi Hodigere on the politics of north and south, the strategies of the two prominent national parties, and the BJP’s accommodative politics in the south.

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The Another Election Show caravan has reached Uttarakhand. In this episode, Atul Chaurasia sits down with the leaders of political parties’ youth wing, journalists and students of DAV College in Dehradun to understand the undercurrents in the state ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.  

We particularly gauge the mood in the Haridwar Lok Sabha constituency, which earlier recorded volatile political scenarios, and has mostly been held by the BJP. In the current polls, BJP’s former chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat and Congress’s ex-CM Harish Rawat’s son Virendra Rawat are in the fray in Haridwar. 

Also contesting are Umesh Kumar, a journalist-turned-politician standing as an independent candidate, and BSP’s Jalil Ahmed Qasmi. Notably, the constituency has significant Muslim and Dalit voters.

Atul is also joined by senior journalist Jai Singh Rawat, Baramasa editor Rahul Kotiyal, and senior journalist Pradeep Sati. 

From the Uniform Civil Code to unemployment, Ram Mandir, migration for jobs, and the infamous Ankita Bhandari murder case that rocked the state – what are the major issues plaguing Haridwar and Uttarakhand? 

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Polling for the Lok Sabha elections is set to begin. So, Atul Chaurasia and Manisha Pandey have hit the ground, to bring you the most authentic voices on Another Election Show – starting from Uttar Pradesh’s Rampur.

Rampur – a bastion of the now-jailed Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan – is one of the 102 seats to go to polls in the first phase of the elections beginning on April 19. The constituency with 52 percent Muslim vote share, and 48 percent vote share of Hindus and others, has been a stronghold of the Congress, and then Azam Khan.    

But after Khan’s conviction in four cases in October 2022, is the constituency again charting its own course? In the 2022 by-elections, the BJP’s Ghanshyam Singh Lodhi won the seat. Is he looking at a repeat win?   

Meanwhile, the SP has fielded Mohibullah Nadvi, imam of a Delhi-based mosque, who has been unable to appeal to Khan’s supporters. The Bahujan Samaj Party’s candidate is Zeeshan Khan. Will it divide the Muslim votes? 

Newslaundry spoke to the students of Rampur’s Raza PG College and advocate Junaidur Rahman about the undercurrents ahead of the polls, the local politics, and issues that matter the most.  

How’s the table turning in Rampur? Tune in.

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