This week on NL Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Mehraj D Lone and Anand Vardhan are joined by Sudhir Suryawanshi, author and journalist at the New Indian Express.

The discussion begins with the candidates for the presidential election and the representative symbolism of the seat. They talk about the powers and legacy of the head of the state, and how Droupadi Murmu’s nomination is a major step for the NDA. “It’s still the least interesting polls in several decades,” comments Abhinandan, pointing to the opposition’s pick Yashwant Sinha.

The conversation moves to the political turmoil in Maharashtra that has dominated headlines this week. “Nobody will believe that Shinde can handle 40 MLAs. It’s a game which is being played by someone else, Shinde is just a character,” says Sudhir on the revolt by a faction of Shiv Sena MLAs led by Eknath Shinde.

The panel briefly discusses how the Agnipath protests have disappeared from the news cycle and the key changes made by the government for Agniveers.

This and a lot more, only on NL Hafta.

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