Young social media stars used tech to inform and influence people, like BJP did in 2014 and 2019; they took on the role of traditional media and Opposition.
The world's largest and longest running elections are coming to an end in India.
Saturday marks the seventh and the final phase of the country's general elections, which began six weeks ago. Voting is under way across 57 constituencies, spanning seven states and a union territory. Campaigning for the polls concluded on Thursday with top leaders holding rallies across sub-continent. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking a third consecutive term - which he is widely expected to win. Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, Journalist, Author and Political analyst, is talking about the final phase of elections in India.
"(Supreme Court judge) BR Gavai has stated categorically that the manner and the circumstances under which Prabir Purkayastha was arrested by the Delhi Police on October 3, 2023, was illegal. This is a view that many of us, including me, and I have been associated with NewsClick from May 2018, that we have held. I am extremely happy that the Supreme Court has granted him bail."- Paranjoy Guha Thakurta
As India carries out the world’s largest-ever election this year, an alarming trend must not go overlooked: the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is weaponizing legislation to go after journalists critical of their policies.
WHEN Parakala Prabhakar published his essays in April last year in a book titled The Crooked Timber of New India: Essays on a Republic in Crisis, one ignored it on suspicion that as husband of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman he could not but be deviously trying to massage the anti-democratic image of the government his wife worked for.