Daily Briefing: In Gujarat, AAP banks on new chemistry on ground; Bilkis Bano challenges release of 11 convicts in SC

Gujarat votes today

With Gujarat set to go to polls in the first phase of Assembly elections on Thursday, the BJP is looking to return to power for the sixth straight term.

As many as 89 constituencies in Saurashtra, Kutch and south Gujarat will go to polls today. The seats are lined up for an intense three-way battle between the BJP, Congress and the plucky new entrant AAP. Here’s what is at stake.

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All AAP heavyweights are contesting in phase 1 of the elections. Clearly, the AAP this time is more visible, but in a state where the BJP is overwhelmingly dominant, it is packaging itself as a better candidate to be a more vigilant opposition than a deflated Congress. How this translates into the arithmetic on December 8 remains to be seen.

Only in the Express

With gas prices going up due to the war in Ukraine, Arun Singhal, Secretary at the Department of Fertilisers, says India is trying to offset it by importing fertiliser from Russia. In an interview with The Indian Express, Singhal speaks all about fertilisers and Russian imports.

As lawmakers play catch-up with fast-changing technologies impacting societies, Meta’s president of global affairs Nick Clegg at an Idea Exchange session with The Indian Express said that the gap between policymaking and technology can be minimised — and called for the US, Europe and India to agree on foundational principles of tech-related lawmaking

From the Front Page

India’s economy grew 6.3 per cent in the July-September quarter this year. The GDP data, although lower than expected, suggests the economy continues to recover post the adverse impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Bilkis Bano moved the Supreme Court challenging the release of the 11 convicts who gangraped her and murdered seven members of her family, including her three-year-old daughter.

Must Read

In recent weeks, cities across China have witness waves of protests against the country’s brutal Covid restrictions. These protests have been accompanied by rare calls for China’s President Xi Jinping to step down. Hemant Adlakha, who teaches Chinese at JNU, explains what led to the protests and whether they serve a political purpose.

Rahul Gandhi’s ambitious Bharat Jodo Yatra is now passing through Madhya Pradesh. The Indian Express spoke to scores of Congress leaders and workers who admit that the challenge before the party now is to sustain its momentum. “We cannot go back to sleep now,” said a party leader.

In our opinion section today, Parinitha Shetty writes on what the recent incident at Manipal University says about Islamophobia in educational institutions: “Differing reactions to protests over hijab and Islamophobia indicate the differing compulsions of state and corporate educational institutions, though societal tendencies of bigotry, violence permeate both.”

And Finally…

Express at FIFA World Cup: Sandip G visits Asian Town, where a special Fan Zone exists for Qatar’s migrant workers, one of the two set up in the country, with the other in Al Khor about 70 km away. Far from the dazzling skyscrapers of central Doha, this is where the labour force converges to bury the day’s hardship and fill their lives with some joy. The disparity between the plusher Fan Zones, set up for those who have flown in from all over the world, is obvious.

Delhi Confidential: A senior IPS officer with the National Investigation Agency recently reached out to the Delhi Police. Disturbed by “indecent behaviour” of couples in cars parked outside his home in Lutyens’s Delhi, he approached senior Delhi Police officers and complained that the lane outside his residence has witnessed this public nuisance for some time now.

In today’s episode of the 3 Things podcast, we look at a new alliance between Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena and Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, no athletic events at Delhi’s JLN stadium for almost four years, and Gujarat’s vote from home initiative.

Until next time,
Rahel Philipose and Sonal Gupta

Business As Usual by EP Unny