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

In the light of Mithun Chakroborty joining the BJP in Kolkata, Abhinandan lauds his “amazing success story”. “His entire rise has been phenomenal. Govinda was called the poor man’s Mithun,” he says. Manisha points out how the BJP used a Left rally’s pictures as their own, circulating them to show the number of people that had turned up for Modi’s rally.

Commenting on the injuries sustained by Mamata Banerjee in Nandigram, Raman says, “Doctors have confirmed that she did get injuries on her leg. Whether it happened in a stampede or by BJP workers, that we don’t know." Abhinandan lauds her courage to take up Suvendru Adhikari’s challenge to fight from Nandigram, saying, "She is willing to bet big. She did not hedge.” The panel also discuss the likely impact of the Shiv Sena and the Congress-Left alliance in the upcoming polls.

The conversation also spans Chief Justice of India SA Bobde’s clarification about his remarks in a rape case as also the curious case of the explosive-laden Scorpio outside Mukesh Ambani's Mumbai residence.

Tune in!

Hafta letters: Media’s role, E Sreedharan joining BJP, debate on rape