Left, Right & Centre

The government says jobs have been created in the last 5 years however there is no data to back that up. Union Minister Prakash Javadekar says people who don't work out of choice cannot be considered unemployed.

Karnataka saw dramatic political twists and turns after 2 Independent MLAs withdrew their support from the Congress-JD(S) government. There is speculation that several Congress MLAs may leave and switch sides. While the BJP lawmakers are at a 5-star resort in Gurgaon, is the Kumaraswamy government in trouble?

Delhi Police filed a chargesheet against former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid and others for sedition three years after a controversial event was organised on the campus. What exactly is the evidence they have? Is this a politically motivated chargesheet or is it a genuine case?

We look at the row over a sitting Supreme Court judge getting a post-retirement job picked for him by the government and then being part of the panel that decided former CBI chief Alok Verma's fate. Was it a conflict of interest?

The battle for parliament is going to be between the Congress and the BJP: that was the message of top Congress leaders a day after they were snubbed by the Samajwadi Party and the BSP which have decided against an alliance with the Congress in Uttar Pradesh. So now, the Congress will fight all 80 parliamentary seats in the state but realistically, how much of a dent will the party be able to make in India's biggest state. Tonight on Left, Right and Centre, we ask, snubbed by the BSP-SP, can the Congress survive on its own in Uttar Pradesh?

Uttar Pradesh powerhouses Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati, bitter rivals turned partners-in-polls, today announced their long-anticipated alliance to take on the ruling BJP in the national election due by May, declaring that it would give Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah "sleepless nights". The Congress will not be a part of the alliance, they said, saying there was no "real gain" from any tie-up with Rahul Gandhi's party. It also isn't clear how smaller parties like Ajit Singh's RLD and the Nishad party will be accommodated in the alliance. Tonight, on Left, Right and Centre, we ask, will the Bua-Bhatija Gathbandhan be a gamechanger or will it be a failed experiment as the Prime Minister has said?

As we count down to the general elections which are barely three months away, the first big step that could change the way things play out - Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav have sealed their alliance and are expected to announce it in Lucknow tomorrow. This alliance in UP, a state with 80 Lok Sabha seats, has the potential to be a game-changer. The BJP won 73 seats last time, but if the SP-BSP alliance works, it can make a significant dent in the BJP's tally. Though Amit Shah has thundered today that the alliance won't make any impact and that the BJP will win 74 seats from UP.

Alok Verma, reinstated as chief of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) by the Supreme Court barely 48 hours ago, was removed this evening by a committee led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which said he "had not acted with the integrity expected of him". Mr Verma lost his high-profile job just weeks before his retirement on January 31. The decision was two against one: PM Modi and Justice AK Sikri -- representing Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi who had recused himself from the panel -- favoured Mr Verma's removal. Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, representing the opposition, put up a dissenting note.

Much of the focus in the national media this week was the on the quota bill brought in by the government and passed hurriedly by parliament. But another controversial bill made it through the Lok Sabha, one which has evoked huge protests in Assam and other parts of the north east and could hurt the BJP politically in the region. The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 aims to amend the Citizenship Act of 1955 and give citizenship to non-Muslim migrants (Hindu, Sikhs, Jain, Christians, Parsis) from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

Why was the move to push Quota bill in parliament made all of a sudden and where are all these jobs going to come from? On Left, Right And Centre, we discuss, if the move is a cover-up by the government for the job crisis.

As concerns grow in India about a resurgent Taliban and the possibility of the terror group coming to power in Afghanistan, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Zarif has told NDTV that it's impossible to have a future Afghan government without a role for the Taliban, though it should not have a dominant role. Iran started formal talks with the Taliban for the very first time just last week. Mr Zarif also said extremism was an existential threat for Pakistan.

The government today announced a 10% reservation in government jobs and higher education for economically weaker sections in the general category and said it would move a constitutional amendment bill to bring it into effect. According to the government, those who earn less than Rs 8 lakh a year and have less than five acres of land qualify for the quota. The government also said Brahmins, Baniyas, Christians and Muslims will benefit from this. While the government says this has been a long-standing demand, the timing of the announcement, just months before the 2019 elections are announced, is triggering questions. So is this a masterstroke, or mere lip service?

Amid reports that Akhilesh Yadav may be quizzed by the CBI in an illegal sand mining case, the opposition today accused the BJP of political vendetta and of misusing government institutions. Mayawati called Akhilesh Yadav and is believed to have told him that it was a conspiracy and it was time to fight back. The raids in the mining scam came after Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati met in Delhi on Friday to discuss a seat-sharing formula in Uttar Pradesh for the general elections. So is the centre using the CBI to further political ends?

It's been more than three months since the Supreme Court opened the gates of the Sabarimala temple to women of all age groups yet only now have two women entered the temple. The two women, in their 40s, have told NDTV in an interview that they were not activists or political workers but believed in the Supreme Court's authority and were only exercising their constitutional right. They say we have opened the way for other women to enter the temple. Since the news of their successful entry into the temple broke, Kerala has become a war zone which left 30 police personnel injured and nearly 750 arrested.

The state of Uttar Pradesh, with 80 Lok Sabha seats, may well decide the outcome of the Lok Sabha elections, nearly three months away. It comes as no surprise that the posturing is intensifying as parties look to firm up their pre-poll alliance. Reports suggest big regional leaders Mayawati and Akhilesh have met to discuss seat-sharing formula that keeps the Congress out. The Congress has spoken in two voices. While one senior leader, PL Punia, asserted that the party was ready to go alone in the state, UP Congress chief Raj Babbar struck a more conciliatory note when he said "the people of UP want us to fight together to defeat the BJP government". So is the Akhilesh-Mayawati formula, widely believed to be 37 seats each for the SP and the BSP, with a few seats for smaller parties, a done deal or does it still leave room for negotiation since there is no formal announcement? Tonight on "Left Right and Centre", we ask: "is winnability the only factor at play or is there far more at stake with the road to Delhi passing through the state of Uttar Pradesh?"