Left, Right & Centre

The Unnao rape survivor and her family fought off threats from the accused BJP lawmaker Kuldeep Sengar and his men. They even wrote letters to the Chief Justice of India and the police a couple of weeks ago explaining in detail the harassment they are facing. The BJP now claims the lawmaker Kuldeep Sengar was suspended last year but offers no proof. Why isn't he being expelled?

In a big boost to the Modi government, the 'Triple Talaq' bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha today. As the opposition completely falls apart, the last bastion of the opposition also collapses.

What is going on in Uttar Pradesh? A teenage rape survivor is battling for her life in hospital, two of her relatives dead after their car was hit by a truck. Her alleged attacker is a sitting BJP legislator who now has a murder case filed against him; also in the last 24 hours, in Amethi, the constituency of Smriti Irani, a former army officer was beaten to death for resisting a robbery attempt. And where is the police? They've been busy washing the feet of Kawariyas or showering rose petals on them. Is there a law and order breakdown in Yogi Adityanath's UP?

Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor warned of growing discontent in the Congress over leadership crisis triggered by Rahul Gandhi's resignation as party chief following the debacle in national elections in May. Many leaders are upset privately and the party must "elect" a president soon not "select" one, he said.

The government hits the pause button on the contentious RTI Bill in the Rajya Sabha, with the numbers stacked against them. But in this session, 11 bills have been passed without any scrutiny by a parliamentary panel, which the opposition says undermines democracy. Even though the government has a big majority, should key bills still be studied in detail before being passed?

Aparna Sen on why she and 48 other intellectuals have written to the PM against lynchings and the attempt to stifle dissent.

The government hits the pause button on the contentious RTI bill in the Rajya Sabha with the numbers stacked against them but in this session 11 bills have been passed without any scrutiny by a parliamentary panel, which the opposition says undermines democracy. On Left, Right and Centre, Trinamool Congress's Derek O'Brien talks about how unacceptable it is for the Government to be passing bills with no scrutiny whatsoever and that the opposition aims to be constructive.

India denies Donald Trump's outrageous claim that PM Modi wanted him to mediate on Kashmir, but the opposition demands a statement by the Prime Minister. Meanwhile, the statement could cause some more damage to the India-US relationship. So, what next?

The Congress-JDS government in Karnataka falls after weeks of political chaos. HD Kumaraswamy loses his majority and the BJP's BS Yeddyurappa is all set to be the Chief Minister. Has democracy won or lost in the state?

India denies Donald Trump's outrageous claim that PM Modi wanted him to mediate on Kashmir but the opposition demands clarification from the PM on the matter. Congress's Shashi Tharoor speaks to NDTV on how even though Donald Trump sometimes gets things wrong, it is not appropriate for PM Modi to hide behind the foreign ministry and not speak on the matter.

As India takes a giant leap and successfully launches Chandrayaan 2. On Left Right and Centre, we discuss what's next in terms of the mission and what technical snags did ISRO have to battle with to make this mission a roaring success.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath finally visited UP's Sonbhadra district, days after 10 people were gunned over a land dispute. He announced more compensation for the families of those who died, and also for the injured. But he continued the attack on the Congress, holding the party responsible for the shocking murders. He also alleged that the village head and his family were linked to the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party. Can the Chief Minister deflect his own government's responsibility?

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday launched her fightback with a mega rally in Kolkata-her first since Trinamool's 12 seat setback in the Lok Sabha elections. She took the bull by the horns, calling on BJP to return black money to offset BJP's cut money campaign. She also said the BJP's Bengal result was a mystery and not history and a return to ballot boxes would wipe out the party's mysterious gains.

A bill which seeks to take away the stature of Information Commissioners from equivalent of Election Commissioners and give the Centre the power to set their salaries and service conditions was introduced in Lok Sabha today amid protests by opposition parties. Introducing the Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2019, Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office Jitendra Singh said that it aims at institutionalisation, streamlining and ease of delivery of RTI Act. He said it strengthens the overall RTI structure and described it as an enabling legislation for administration purposes. Activists have criticised the amendments, saying it will weaken transparency panels in the country. Opposing the introduction of the bill, leader of Congress party in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the draft law is a threat to independence of Central Information Commissioner (CIC). While 224 members supported its introduction, 9 opposed it. Congress, Trinamool Congress, DMK and the Bahujan Samaj Party opposed the introduction of the amendment bill before staging a walkout.

There's high drama in the Karnataka assembly as the debate on the trust vote begins. But while the BJP demands a vote right away, the Congress-JDS coalition tries to stall it. The House is adjourned till tomorrow, but BJP MLAs will sit in the House in protest all night. Meanwhile, the murmurs have begun that the governor is preparing a report to send to the centre, which isn't ruling out dismissing the government. With the Supreme Court clear that a floor test must happen, would such a move be blatantly illegal?