Hafta letters: Bengal poll issues, Raghu Rai tribute, football

Madan

Listening to Anand in Hafta episode 586, l noticed that his views were rather theoretical and based on good faith, disregarding the realities pointed out by other panelists. It reminded me of a recent lecture on Viksit Bharat delivered to students. l realised that as Anand teaches UPSC aspirants, his views are excellent for exams if not for practical daily realities.

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Sarath

Looks like the prime influencer is following Newsaundry. To get praise from Abhinandan, he is promoting football these days. 

Will Newslaundry prepare a tally of deleted voter rolls and compare it against winning margins in West Bengal? Will there be an SIR again for other elections? 

Keep up the good work.

A fan of Manisha

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Anonymous 

I am guessing by the time you guys read this, either the BJP or TMC would have won in Bengal. Beyond one side’s hateful rhetoric towards minorities, there is not much separating the two electoral options. 

There are serious issues in Bengal and the rest of India. But what is depressing is that there is no one to talk about them.

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Anonymous 

I suggest you guys check out what’s going on in American politics. Republicans and establishment Democrats have launched a strange attack on political commentator Hasan Piker. It is a mirror into how severely compromised American politics is due to the pro-Israeli lobby and interest groups. 

I am quite sure if India had someone similar to Piker, he would have been silenced one way or the other.

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Ishaan

My question is for Abhinandan. On the day Raghu Rai passed away, Ravish Kumar posted a few photos on Instagram paying him tribute. In the photos, you were seen sharing a light moment with Raghu Rai. How was Raghu Rai as a person? What interaction did you have with him in that instance, and also otherwise?

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NP 

Hi Abhinandan and team, 

I love your work. Long-time subscriber here. Please don’t take my criticism to heart. 

Two quick things.

First, on the 35-minute Swamy interview. Abhinandan has often said he is not a journalist, but a news professional running a company. If an interview is meant to function as journalism, it should be led by a journalist. I heard more of Abhinandan than Swamy.

Then, a genuine question. How do you see AAP now versus when they first came to power, and their actual track record? Particularly curious about your take on Raghav Chadha.

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