Daily Briefing: Another blow to INDIA alliance; BJP steps up outreach; and more

The Union Cabinet has congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the conservation ceremony at the new Ram temple in Ayodhya. The Cabinet adopted a resolution stating that while “the body of the country attained independence” in 1947, the “Pran Pratishtha of its soul was done on January 22, 2024”, and “everyone experienced spiritual satisfaction”.

⚡ Only in The Express

The Election Commission of India was recently asked by the Law Commission of India if periodic  elections lead to a policy paralysis owing to the frequent imposition of the Model Code of Conduct. In its response, the EC  staunchly defended the MCC stating “it would not be correct” to view its application as a “disruption”. Why does this matter?  Read our report

📰 From the Front Page

👉🏽 The INDIA bloc was dealt a considerable blow this week, when two partners — the TMC in West Bengal and AAP in Punjab — said they were calling off seat-sharing talks.

👉🏽 However, the Congress, which is being blamed for the cracks in West Bengal and Punjab, appeared hopeful of placating at least West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee.

👉🏽 The Varanasi District Court has allowed copies of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) report in the Gyanvapi mosque complex to be made available to both parties in the matter, said advocates representing the Muslim and Hindu sides.

👩🏽‍💻 Must Read

PM Modi’s outreach to 50 lakh new voters, a kickstart for BJP’s election campaign in Uttar Pradesh, the first list of candidates, and more — here’s what’s on the BJP’s agenda in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls.

Ahead of the elections, the Modi government is all set for its last (interim) Budget for 2024-25. What to watch out for in this Interim Budget? Udit Misra explains.

In our Opinion section today, Christophe Jaffrelot writes on the fraught relationship between Karpoori Thakur and the Sangh parivar: “Bharat Ratna is a deserved honour for Thakur. But will the Modi government replicate his policy and introduce a specific quota for the MBCs, a reform that would make a caste census even more necessary?”

⏱️ And Finally

What if we told you that an AI-powered pocket-sized companion device could potentially replace your smartphone? That’s what the Rabbit R1 aims to do… take us back to the golden age of pagers, before cell phones and smartphones became a thing, in the hope of creating a new generation of AI-first hardware devices that are entirely voice-based and have nothing to do with apps.

Delhi Confidential: How does Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) president Jayant Chaudhary plan to get a foothold among young voters? Sports seem to be on his mind. https://www.inexp.in/rsOX-Y

🎧 In today’s episode of the ‘3 Things’ podcast, we discuss the significance of the Ram Mandir, the latest restrictions on international students in Canada, and the Himanta Biswa Sarma-Rahul Gandhi tiff.

Until tomorrow,

Rahel Philipose and Sonal Gupta