This week on NL Hafta, it's an all-Newslaundry panel of Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal, Manisha Pande, Mehraj D Lone, and Jayashree Arunachalam.

The conversation starts with Mehraj explaining how the recently concluded District Development Council elections in Kashmir were aimed primarily at "depoliticising" the region's politics.

Speaking about Rahul Gandhi's absence from the 136th foundation day of the Congress, Abhinandan feels that Gandhi has become “low hanging fruit” for the media to go after. Mehraj feels one of the reasons the media constantly tries to portray Gandhi as a clueless "pappu" is to create the perception that there is no alternative to Narendra Modi. Noting that the media took issue with Gandhi going to Milan while farmers were protesting on Delhi's border, Jayashree asks, “Isn’t the bigger question why Modi has not been to the protest site and met the farmers?”

The panellists talk about their highs and lows of 2020, about the contentious laws that were brought, and about the protests and communal carnage that happened. They agree that 2020 was the year of “bigoted laws".

The conversation also spans the actor Rajinikanth "leaving politics", brain drain, and much more.

Tune in!

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