Daily Briefing: ‘Friendly fights’ in Mahagathbandhan, and a failed seat pact for Bihar Assembly polls

With that, let’s move on to the top 5 stories from today’s edition:

🚨 Big Story

‘Friendly fights’: The Opposition Mahagathbandhan in Bihar Friday failed to announce a seat-sharing pact as nominations closed for the first of the two-phase Assembly elections in the state. Partners of the alliance filed nomination papers for all 121 seats going to polls in the first phase, while talks continued to end the deadlock over seats. Congress sources have said the differences between the allies are over some “quality” seats from where the Congress wants to contest.

As the Mahagathbandhan comprising the RJD, Congress, Left parties and Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) missed the crucial deadline to declare its seat deal, one thought that seems to capture the tension in the air is if the alliance will be able to put up a joint front. Just 100 metres away from the RJD office in Patna is the BJP’s headquarters, where the party’s campaign machinery is buzzing.  Is the worst yet to come?

One of the tests for the BJP’s two chief allies in the NDA will be how much of the Muslim vote they manage to get. Both JD(U) and LJP (Ram Vikas) have fielded fewer candidates from the minority community in the election. In the BJP list, like in 2020, there are no Muslims, who make up 17.7% of Bihar’s population. What do fewer Muslim candidates mean for the electorate? Read here.

⚡ Only in Express

India, despite being the second largest producer of tea globally and the largest producer of black tea, has struggled to receive global recognition. Reasons? A complex brew of factors, from policy to perception. In the global market, Indian tea faces a host of challenges – from lack of innovation to competition from African variants, from labour shortage that has plagued large estates to the emergence of a large, unorganised sector. At home, it is thwarted by distinct cultural factors.  We unpack why India’s signature brew hasn’t had its coffee moment yet.

💡 Express Explained

Taliban-led Afghanistan’s Foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi’s visit to the Darul Uloom Deoband seminary was a clear diplomatic effort by New Delhi, which took the call based on “his request.” The significance of the Taliban leader’s visit to Darul Uloom was “personal” for him and “political” for the new Kabul-Delhi engagement, according to sources. It can be seen from the prism of what is called “religious diplomacy”, at a time Kabul’s ties with Pakistan are specially strained. We explain.

✍️ Express Opinion

In our Opinion section today,  Abhijit Das delves into the prospects of a India-US trade deal, and the actions India can take to avoid last-minute US stratagems. Das writes: “If the assessment is that the outcome is skewed against India’s interests, the government must not hesitate to walk away from the negotiating table. In this context, it is relevant to recall Chanakya’s wisdom — when benefits accruing to kings under a treaty are to be distributed unfairly, war is preferable.”

🎬 Movie Review

Wondering what to watch this weekend? We’ve got you covered! If you are in the mood to meet a character that’s as perfect as SRK in DDLJ, then A Nice Boy is surely going to be your movie. Handsome, kind, emotional, and always, always accommodative towards his fiance, Jay is a White orphan, however, with a ‘desi’ twist. Shalini Langer, in her review, writes: “Warmly acted and wonderfully nuanced, A Nice Boy wants us to look at all that seems “familiar” – and look again. Be it your parents, your well-adjusted elder sister, your partner, the big fat Indian wedding, and, above all, that old comfort, Bollywood.”

That’s all for today. Happy Diwali!

See you on Tuesday,
Ariba

Business As Usual by E P Unny

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