Good morning, Big Story Out from Tihar jail on bail till June 2, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal sits down for a chat with The Indian Express, talking about how he hopes to ‘run democracy’ from inside a prison cell, what a third term under Prime Minister Narendra Modi could look like, and why he thinks the BJP will fall short of majority. Decision 2024 For the first time this election, the turnout of women voters was higher than that of men in the fifth phase on May 20, when polling was held in 49 Lok Sabha constituencies across eight states and Union territories. We break down the data and also look at how this compares to past trends. The Congress has come out to ridicule the Election Commission’s stand on uploading Form 17C, which is the record of votes polled at a polling station, saying that the poll body is not fulfilling its constitutional duty and that its inclination is “one-sided”. Why has it said so? Read on. In an election where the BJP leadership has consistently used the term “do shehzade (two princes)” to attack Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh, the battle for the Allahabad Lok Sabha seat is between two scions as well — the BJP’s Neeraj Tripathi and Ujjwal Raman Singh of the Congress. We take a look at how the two candidates stack up. Three decades ago in Kashmir, 37-year-old Mehbooba Mufti campaigned across the Valley for her father, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, in the wake of his resignation from the Congress to form the Peoples Democratic Party. Cut to 2024, it is her daughter Iltija Mufti who is canvassing for her from the corners of Anantnag to villages in Jammu’s Poonch and Rajouri districts. We follow the campaign trail. Only in Express In today’s Opinion section, in the wake of the release of “Heeramandi”, we bring to you arguments from both sides on whether Sanjay Leela Bhansali does justice to portrayal of women in his movies. While Pooja Pillai says “if the first step towards empowerment is representation, then Bhansali has done much”, citing the example of Gangubai Kathiawadi, Paromita Chakrabarti writes, “the impression that you are left with is of women who live in gilded cages, imagining freedom to look a certain way when it is only, after all, male gaze masquerading as female aspiration and agency.” From the Front Page Benchmark stock market indices Sensex and Nifty surged 1.6 per cent to end at record high on Thursday after the RBI announced a record surplus transfer of Rs 2.11 lakh crore and on heavy inflows from foreign portfolio investors (FPIs). Analysts say the higher dividend payout by the RBI to the government is also because of the confidence that the ruling BJP will again come to power. Must Read Pradeep Mohite, a migrant worker from Maharashtra, beams with pride as he talks about his son’s class 10 results released last week. Shivraj, a student of St George’s High School, Vennikkulam, is among several children of migrant workers in Kerala who had been part of Ernakulam district’s ROSHNI scheme, aimed at helping them overcome the language barrier. We report. OpenAI unveiled its latest AI model called GPT-4o last week, saying it would improve on the existing features of ChatGPT. One such feature, named Voice Mode has become the centre of legal controversy after actor Scarlett Johansson said one of these voices, named ‘Sky’, was allegedly copying her voice. We explain. An event in Goa aimed at recreating ‘the traditional Chinese sky lantern festival’ has sparked outrage among environmentalists and wildlife conservationists because it was due to be held at a beach near a nesting site of the endangered Olive Ridley turtles. The environmentalists contend that it poses a severe threat to the beach’s natural ecosystem, wildlife and marine life. We report. And Finally… IPL 2024: A once familiar face inflicted the most telling blow to Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s hopes of qualifying to the Qualifier II. Yuzvendra Chahal, who spent eight seasons with RCB and was not retained in the 2022 auction, dismissed Virat Kohli in a decisive moment of the game - embodying the flawed auction priorities of the franchise that eventually ended their dream run. Delhi confidential: Hours before the Lok Sabha election campaign ended in Delhi on Thursday, Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is one of the BJP’s star campaigners in Delhi, met a select group of traders, businessmen, corporate professionals and senior citizens as part of an outreach programme under the party’s Vishesh Sampark Abhiyan. Don't miss today's column! In the latest episode of our '3 things' podcast, we discuss the Pune Porsche case, the Calcutta High Court’s decision on the West Bengal government issuing OBC certificates to people, and the massive blast that happened in a chemical company in Maharashtra’s Thane. Tune in! Until tomorrow, Ayesha Jain and Rounak Bagchi
