This week on NL Hafta, Manisha Pande, Raman Kirpal, Jayashree Arunachalam, and Anand Vardhan are joined by Omar Rashid, the Hindu’s UP correspondent.

The discussion starts with the upcoming election in Uttar Pradesh. Omar says that in the “digital age”, “crowds have become a lesser parameter to judge popularity during elections”. Describing the Samajwadi Party’s campaigns, he says, “Akhilesh may put up a good fight this time.”

On the prime minister inaugurating the Kashi Vishwanath corridor, Raman says, “Yogi on his own cannot win the election, so the PM’s show at Kashi shows how he has his back and will make the BJP win again...PM will play a very crucial role as a BJP campaigner in UP.”

The panel talks about the updates in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence and how Ajay Mishra’s removal from the union cabinet has spiralled into a big issue for the opposition. The conversation then shifts to the conflict between the BCCI and Virat Kohli. Anand feels Kohli is “being disrespected at some level by such a sudden announcement of no captaincy”.

This and a lot more, only on NL Hafta.

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