This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Manisha Pande, Jayashree Arunachalam and Anand Vardhan are joined by journalist Arati Jerath and Sunil Dahiya, founder of Envirocatalysts. 

The discussion begins in Bihar with Arati talking about Nitish Kumar’s relevance today. “The Nitish Kumar factor is the most critical in these elections. He has dominated Bihar’s political landscape for 20 years and built a loyal EBC vote base – 36 percent of the population,” Arati says. 

On the Congress, she says Rahul Gandhi probably “realises that the Congress has to play second fiddle”, but he’s “caught between keeping his workers happy and accepting fewer seats”. The panel also discusses the relevance of Prashant Kishor, with opinions ranging from “grifter” to “gasbag” to Arati’s kinder parallel between Kishor and Kejriwal. 

On Delhi’s air crisis, Sunil says years of awareness have passed but the situation is only getting worse: “Every indicator – private vehicle registration, petrol consumption, and nearby coal power generation – has increased.”

He also questions the efficacy of the artificial rain project, pointing out its potential environmental and practical drawbacks. “Will you make it rain all winter across Delhi, NCR, Haryana, and Punjab? How resource-intensive and economically feasible is that?”

Hafta letters: Radicalisation, rights of Palestine, samosa for Manisha