I was quite surprised (and enraged) by such an extreme level of support for Israel from the radical Hindu segment of India (yes, almost everyone belonged to 'Modi Ka Parivar', other than Subramaniam Swami). Has this deep-rooted Islamophobia become so entrenched in our country’s population? (Just look at the backlash a lot of the celebs got for sharing 'Eyes on Rafah').

Was also interesting to see how India’s government chose to keep quiet when so many countries spoke out against the Israeli attack in Rafah.

Is it a sign of a changing external policy for India, where we’re leaning more towards Israel than Palestine? Curious to know what you guys think.

Sorry for keep asking questions on stuff that’s not related to elections. :P

Anonymous 

***

Dear NL team,

In the last few weeks, we saw almost all media channels, including Newslaundry, interviewing Prashant Kishor for his opinion on the election. This got me curious. Why was he suddenly everywhere? Do news media channels reach out to him or is it the other way around? Also, I would like to know the panel’s opinion on the forecast of the election results. Are they more towards the Prashant Kishor forecast or the Yogendra Yadav forecast?

Muhammad Sajid Ali 

***

Hi Abhinandan, Raman and Jayashree – thank you once again for a wonderful podcast which is always one of the highlights of my week. I appreciate the level of sensitivity you guys display when talking about most topics, and I too would love to see a podcast on the AAP. One small thing I wished to point out: Prateek Goyal at around the 1 hour 20 minute mark in Hafta 486 used a casteist slur – "छपरी" while responding to a question. This seems unbecoming of a news platform like yours. I hope you are able to address this issue to your subscribers and team in the future.

Akshaj 

***

In Ep #474, Sudipto and Abhinandan had a passionate debate and I felt compelled to agree with Abhinandan. I get where Sudipto was coming from, but the mistakes of the past are not always the predictors of the present. Take the transformation of political parties in the USA. Democrats went from fighting civil war for pro-slavery to electing the US’s first Black President. And Republicans went from Lincoln to Trump. The belief that things can change is the bedrock of our trust in democracy. India has a glorious tradition of ousting incumbents at a rate that is not seen in any other democracy in the West. Indian voters are smarter than our worst assumptions. For a change of politics in India, the first place for change should be a reform of how parties are run. Mass primaries for selecting candidates can help solve that. It will reduce turncoats, leadership issues and also bring in democracy to the rigid party system.

Karthik Prasad 

***

Hi NL team,

Two quick comments on the letters from Hafta 487.

1. I grew up in Mumbai in the 90s and early 00s. Chhapri and bhangi were used interchangeably to refer to someone who is unkempt or not ‘sophisticated’. Both ‘slang’ terms clearly have casteist origins. In the past few years, the widespread use of ‘chhapri’ across the country has made me very uneasy. From what I’ve seen through social media, now it is usually used to refer to people who live in slums or are poor.

2. Regarding the drop in number of voters, one of the reasons could be the many documented and undocumented loss of lives during Covid.

Thanks for all the wonderful work you do!

Jen 

***

Mail 1:

Hello Newslaundry team. 

First of all, congratulations on your tireless work throughout the Lok Sabha elections in this blistering heat. I am writing this before the counting day. 

From whatever reporting I saw and followed, it appears that there was at least some degree of fatigue among voters and maybe a successful localisation of election by opposition in key battleground states. 

However, almost all exit polls have indicated a landslide win for the governing party, which to me appears slightly shocking as I was expecting a slight dip from 2019 given that there was no one big national narrative. Regardless, if all the predictions hold true (which they most likely will), in your opinion, where does that leave us going forward? What could the future hold for the media, the political discourse of the country, as well as general constitutional morality of the various governing bodies and the judiciary?

Mail 2:

Follow-up reaction (after election results) to my earlier letter that I wrote before election results: YE TOH BRUHH MOMENT HAI!

Vatsal 

***

I watched Prashant Kishore give interviews to Karan Thapar and Srinivasan Jain. While he picked a fight with Karan Thapar, I have no sympathy for either of them, and Thapar is a mediocre journalist to me. What is most concerning for me is why does a person like Prashant Kishore not get called out. There is a clear need to apologise to clear his conscience for working alongside Modi.

When Modi was campaigning for 2014, his genocidal history was overlooked and not made the centre of the discussion. While PK is not campaigning to be the PM, why not call out his allegiance with Modi in the past in his interactions with the media, instead of giving him platforms to lick his own ***** publicly and gloat. I don't negate that he is intelligent, but intelligence does not triumph over morals.

Jugraj 

***

The tyrant playbook suggests that a weakened tyrant will look for a war to take the society into, to consolidate his power. I hope this does not happen. Modi has already tried to sink his toes in starting a civil war during the campaign. The civil society and the parliament will need to be extremely vigilant for the next couple of years. War shuru na kar de papa.

In 2024, voters had their own slogan: "Ab ki bar, sub-par"

NRI non-voter 

***

Hello people of NL,

You are going to be inundated with mails. I will keep it short.

1. So proud of you and everything you do.

2. Proud of being a subscriber and funding the election coverage.

3. NL is an experiment that proves honest journalism will never go out of fashion.

4. For the cynic in me, 2024 polls are the payoff.

5. Thanks for speaking truth to power and not making power-backed lies the truth.

Here’s a song for you. More power to you! Here’s to 12 more!

Pranay Nikam 

In times of misinformation, you need news you can trust. We’ve got you covered. Subscribe to Newslaundry and power our work.