This week, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, and Anand Vardhan are joined by content creator Meghnad S and Pooja Prasanna of The News Minute.

The episode opens with an overview of Karnataka politics and the rift within the state unit of the Congress. 

Pooja explains the growing impatience within D K Shivakumar’s camp, noting that he had expected a leadership transition after two-and-a-half years of the Congress government. “He’s now waiting for an assurance – any signal – from the high command,” she says, adding that the silence from Delhi has “triggered the first public signs of frustration” in the form of Shivakumar’s cryptic posts about “keeping one’s word”.

The Chief Minister’s office, meanwhile, interprets Shivakumar’s messaging as an attempt to dilute Siddaramaiah’s governance record. “They believe he’s trying to take away from the CM’s narrative of fulfilling the five guarantees,” Pooja notes.

Anand Vardhan draws attention to how this tussle exposes the Congress high command’s eroding authority. “The national leadership has limited patronage left. You can’t dictate terms the way you once could,” he says.

The conversation then turns to the significance of the Constitution, given this week's Samvidhan Diwas. Meghnad describes the code as “both prescriptive and reflective”. “It tells us what India should be, but also reflects what India actually is. And increasingly, those two are drifting apart.”

Manisha adds that the Constitution has increasingly become a political tool rather than a lived document. “A lot of people bring up the Constitution today because it’s the best argument against the BJP,” she notes, explaining that for many, opposing the ruling party now automatically means invoking constitutional principles. She points out that during the 2024 election cycle, despite the heavy rhetoric around “samvidhan” and constitutional rights, it was mostly minorities who spoke about it with real urgency.

This and a lot more. Tune in!

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