Above the Fold: Top stories of the day
1. Jagmohan Dalmiya, former president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, has died.
2. Nepal adopted a constitution, its seventh in 67 years, but did so despite protests from within the country and from New Delhi about the demarcation of provinces.
3. Three members of Subhas Chandra Bose's family are set to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his residence next month, setting off speculation that more files on Bose might be declassified.
The Big Story: Caste Calculus
The Bharatiya Janata Party's plan of taking on the grand alliance against it in Bihar includes a careful attempt to stitch together a caste coalition, using Jitan Ram Manjhi's Hindu Awami Morcha to pull in Mahadalits, holding on to their traditional upper caste support and attempting to draw support from the Yadavs.
The Yadavs have traditionally been part of the MY (Muslim-Yadav) combine, put together by Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav , in the state. More than 15% of the state is Yadav, and together with Muslims, they account for up to 30% of the electorate, a vote bank that has been fairly reliable for the RJD over the years. The BJP is now attempting to take that away with a simple ploy: field Yadav candidates.
With Prime Minister Narendra Modi talking about the impact of "yaduvanshis", the party has fielded 22 Yadav candidates, one in every one of the major districts. The BJP is hoping to pool in support from Yadavs, as well as Brahmins and Mahadalits to build a formidable caste coalition that can take on the grand alliance against it.
The Big Scroll: Scroll.in on the day's biggest story
Anita Katyal asks whether, in Bihar’s caste calculus, the JD(U) and RJD can get their arithmetic right? Dhirendra Jha, meanwhile, reports on JD(U) leaders' concerns that Nitish Kumar’s backroom strategist is now in the party’s driving seat.
Politicking
1. Days after the Election Commission put conditions on what Prime Minister Narendra Modi could say in his fortnightly radio address, because of upcoming polls in Bihar, Modi used the radio show to praise the EC itself.
2. A prominent Patidar group in the United States has objected to the "unanimous" call from the Patel community in America to protest this week's visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
3. A witness has emerged to level allegations of human sacrifice against PR Palanichamy, a mining baron being investigated in a scam, a few days after skeletal remains of four persons were also dug up from a mining quarry in Tamil Nadu.
4. The head of the Sanatan Sanstha, an organisation under the scanner for the murder of rationalist leader Govind Pansare, is believed by his followers to be so divine that his hair has turned golden and toilet brush turned pink.
5. Former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, who is battling to take charge of the Punjab Congress, has openly criticised the party's vice president, Rahul Gandhi, saying "going to a Dalit house" is not enough.
Punditry
1. C Raja Mohan in the Indian Express says that Modi now has a chance to change India's traditionally defensive approach to multilateralism, not just at the United Nations but on everything from climate change to internet governance.
2. Increased inflows are great, but the government needs to be concerned about an 80% drop in India Inc's investments abroad, writes AK Bhattacharyya in the Business Standard.
3. Maneka Gandhi, in the Hindu, calls for implementation of the ban on slaughter and trafficking of camels, ahead of Bakri-Eid.
Don't Miss
Karan Bali traces the post-Partition journey of the great Noor Jehan who left Indian to become the voice of Pakistani cinema.
1. Jagmohan Dalmiya, former president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, has died.
2. Nepal adopted a constitution, its seventh in 67 years, but did so despite protests from within the country and from New Delhi about the demarcation of provinces.
3. Three members of Subhas Chandra Bose's family are set to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his residence next month, setting off speculation that more files on Bose might be declassified.
The Big Story: Caste Calculus
The Bharatiya Janata Party's plan of taking on the grand alliance against it in Bihar includes a careful attempt to stitch together a caste coalition, using Jitan Ram Manjhi's Hindu Awami Morcha to pull in Mahadalits, holding on to their traditional upper caste support and attempting to draw support from the Yadavs.
The Yadavs have traditionally been part of the MY (Muslim-Yadav) combine, put together by Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav , in the state. More than 15% of the state is Yadav, and together with Muslims, they account for up to 30% of the electorate, a vote bank that has been fairly reliable for the RJD over the years. The BJP is now attempting to take that away with a simple ploy: field Yadav candidates.
With Prime Minister Narendra Modi talking about the impact of "yaduvanshis", the party has fielded 22 Yadav candidates, one in every one of the major districts. The BJP is hoping to pool in support from Yadavs, as well as Brahmins and Mahadalits to build a formidable caste coalition that can take on the grand alliance against it.
The Big Scroll: Scroll.in on the day's biggest story
Anita Katyal asks whether, in Bihar’s caste calculus, the JD(U) and RJD can get their arithmetic right? Dhirendra Jha, meanwhile, reports on JD(U) leaders' concerns that Nitish Kumar’s backroom strategist is now in the party’s driving seat.
Politicking
1. Days after the Election Commission put conditions on what Prime Minister Narendra Modi could say in his fortnightly radio address, because of upcoming polls in Bihar, Modi used the radio show to praise the EC itself.
2. A prominent Patidar group in the United States has objected to the "unanimous" call from the Patel community in America to protest this week's visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
3. A witness has emerged to level allegations of human sacrifice against PR Palanichamy, a mining baron being investigated in a scam, a few days after skeletal remains of four persons were also dug up from a mining quarry in Tamil Nadu.
4. The head of the Sanatan Sanstha, an organisation under the scanner for the murder of rationalist leader Govind Pansare, is believed by his followers to be so divine that his hair has turned golden and toilet brush turned pink.
5. Former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, who is battling to take charge of the Punjab Congress, has openly criticised the party's vice president, Rahul Gandhi, saying "going to a Dalit house" is not enough.
Punditry
1. C Raja Mohan in the Indian Express says that Modi now has a chance to change India's traditionally defensive approach to multilateralism, not just at the United Nations but on everything from climate change to internet governance.
2. Increased inflows are great, but the government needs to be concerned about an 80% drop in India Inc's investments abroad, writes AK Bhattacharyya in the Business Standard.
3. Maneka Gandhi, in the Hindu, calls for implementation of the ban on slaughter and trafficking of camels, ahead of Bakri-Eid.
Don't Miss
Karan Bali traces the post-Partition journey of the great Noor Jehan who left Indian to become the voice of Pakistani cinema.
“Jahan paida hui wahan hi jaoongi." I will only go where I was born. That declaration in 1947 by Allah Rakhi Wasai sent shockwaves through the Hindi film industry. At Partition, her native village of Kasur in Punjab found itself in the newly formed nation of Pakistan and Wasai – better known by her stage name, Noor Jehan – packed up her life in Bombay to move to Lahore.
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