Reporters Without Orders Ep 340: Delhi Commission for Women crisis, Dera cult as political force

This week, host Shivnarayan Rajpurohit is joined by Newslaundry’s Basant Kumar and Drishti Choudhary.

Drishti reported on the crisis facing the Delhi Commission for Women. She says that at present, the commission does not have any office bearers, its helpline numbers are defunct, and many of the staffers and NGOs have not been paid for months.

Basant covered the Haryana elections and reported on the influence of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Ram Rahim on the polls. He talks about the political dynamics between different parties and workers on the ground and how Ram Rahim followers vote en bloc. 

Tune in.

Timecodes

00:00:00 - Introduction

00:03:44 - The dark side of Haryana’s sports success

00:09:00 - Haryana elections: ground zero

00:14:04 - Crisis at the Delhi Commission of Women

00:19:28 - Ram Rahim’s effect on elections

00:33:20 - Recommendations

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Basant

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