Daily Briefing: Latest on the Mahua Moitra cash-for-query allegations; what’s on voters’ minds in Madhya Pradesh; and more

🚨 Big Story

Opposition members in the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee, which has recommended the expulsion of TMC MP Mahua Moitra, said in their dissent notes that the probe conducted by the panel was a “fixed match” by “a kangaroo court”. 

They also said the recommendation for Moitra’s expulsion “will set a dangerous precedent.” We explain what happens next, and the rules governing the procedure. 

Meanwhile, in the first comments by the TMC on the cash-for-query allegations, the party’s second-in-command Abhishek Banerjee asked why the ethics panel has recommended her expulsion when nothing has been proved so far. Read more here

⚡ Only in Express

In the latest edition of our Dis/Agree series, Anumita Roychowdhury and Arunabha Ghosh write about Delhi’s air pollution crisis and the government’s attempt to mitigate it through the odd-even scheme. 

Roychowdhury: “While more efforts are needed to make integrated public transport convenient, accessible and affordable for all, they won’t be adequate without strategies to simultaneously restrain personal vehicle usage.”

Ghosh: “We all agree that air pollution is a problem and know many of the solutions. Changemakers will emerge not just from the technical consensus on the ‘how’ but a social consensus on the ‘why’”.

📰 From the Front page

Two weeks after eight former Indian Navy personnel, arrested in an alleged case of espionage, were sentenced to death by a court in Qatar, the MEA said an appeal has been filed in the case. Find out the latest developments in the case here. 

Hours after four people of the Kuki-Zomi community were abducted from Kangchup Chinkhong in Manipur, the bodies of a man and a woman with gunshot wounds were found in Imphal East and Imphal West on Tuesday, leading a family to fear the worst. Read our ground report for more.

⚖️ Saying that criminal cases pending against members of Parliament and State Legislatures “have a direct bearing on our political democracy”, the Supreme Court on Thursday asked High Courts to set up special benches to monitor trials in over 5,000 such cases for their speedy disposal.

👩‍💻 Must read

Decision 2023: “At the state level in MP, then, apart from a genuine lack of structural and systemic changes and progress on the jobs front, it is the absence of the government’s framing of and voter buy-in to bigger ideas, next steps and future goals that may now be coming to bite the BJP.”

In our latest ground report from poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, we talk to voters across the state to figure out what’s on their mind.

We also take a deep dive into the political history of Madhya Pradesh, and how both Congress and BJP-RSS have deep roots in the state.

In our Opinion section today, C Raja Mohan writes on why the US needs India to get ahead of China in the AI race: “While India must invest in expanding the quality and quantity of its AI talent, the US can provide solid support — through collaborations in education, research, and training.

⌛ And finally

🏏 World Cup 2023: We take a look at underdog Afghanistan’s journey in the tournament: why they can look back with pride at what they achieved and what they need to do to get better.

🤫 Find out how the Samajwadi Party is trying to woo women voters in Madhya Pradesh, only in today’s Delhi Confidential!

🎧 In the latest episode of the 3 Things podcast, we discuss the factors affecting the Chhattisgarh assembly polls, a ground report on the Nepal earthquake, and an update on the eight former Navy personnel in Qatar.

Until next time,

Arushi Bhaskar

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