Reporters Without Orders Ep 322: Bansuri Swaraj’s debut, Sambhal violence

This week, host Anmol Pritam is joined by Newslaundry’s Avdhesh Kumar and Sumedha Mittal.

Sumedha profiled Bansuri Swaraj, daughter of Sushma Swaraj and the BJP’s candidate from New Delhi constituency. She explains why the BJP chose not to field Meenakshi Lekhi, a two-time winner from the constituency, and how Bansuri has been trying to make herself relatable to voters despite a ‘nepotism’ narrative.

Avdhesh reported on the violence during polling in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal, where voters from Muslim-majority villages alleged they were beaten up by the state police. He says the voters, despite having voter IDs, say they were “deliberately” prevented from casting their votes. 

Tune in.

Timecodes

00:00:00 - Introduction

00:00:35 - Violence and elections

00:11:00 - Bansuri Swaraj

00:29:20 - Sambhal incident

00:42:10 - Recommendations

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Produced and edited by Saif Ali Ekram, recorded by Anil Kumar.