Left, Right & Centre

As the Congress and BJP face off, the Defence Minister boldly declares the Rafale deal will bring Narendra Modi back as prime minister. Ms Sitharaman spoke for over two hours in Lok Sabha replying to the Rafale debate, detailing the centre's response on the pricing and process of acquiring the 36 jets from France. But the exchange with Rahul Gandhi often turned bitter as Nirmala Sitharaman raked up Bofors, and AgustaWestland. Rahul Gnadhi, however, stuck to his charge that Anil Ambani had stolen Rs 30,000 crore and that it was the Prime Minister who helped him. Is corruption going to be the central theme of the 2019 campaign?

As right wing groups hold protests across Kerala against the entry of two women in the Sabarimala temple, we discuss: Why is Sabarimala a matter of faith and Triple Talaq is not? Are these double standards and have most political parties actually let women down?

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi's interview continues to be dissected and debated, the one simple question: Why hasn't he done a single press conference?

What happened today at the Sabarimla temple in Kerala was historic - two women below the age of 50 walked into the shrine, before daybreak, becoming the first to do so since the Supreme Court ordered the end of a decades-old ban on women of menstrual age. What happened after that however was truly medieval - the temple actually shut down for a ritual "purification" for some time, before reopening to devotees. Bindu and Kanaka Durga, both in their early 40s, entered the shrine around 3.45 am. In a video accessed by NDTV, the women are seen hurrying into the shrine, dressed in all-black and escorted by the police. A group of protesters also appears to be at the spot.

After months and months of allegations and counter allegations, the debate on Rafale is finally in parliament with Rahul Gandhi and Arun Jaitley engaging in a completely no-holds barred debate on Rs 58,000 crore deal for 36 Rafale jets. In a scathing attack on the PM, Rahul Gandhi dared him for a one-on-one debate. Rahul Gandhi said the PM is hiding in his room and doesn't want to face questions. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on the other hand lashed out at Rahul Gandhi and said, was he playing in the lap of one 'Q'?

Gordhan Zadaphia, a BJP Gujarat hardliner and once a huge critic of the Prime Minister, has made a stunning return to the political mainstream. Mr Zadaphia, along with UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and a small carefully selected group of BJP leaders, will lead the party's assault in the 2019 general elections. Mr Zadaphia was accused of involvement in the 2002 Gujarat riots. There were allegations that he posted police officers sympathetic to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. Some of these officers were accused of being a part of the violence in the state.

The biopic on Balasaheb Thackeray, the late Shiv Sena chief, has to be released without any cuts, that's what Sanjay Raut, the director of the film has to say. But the censor board has problems with a few scenes and dialogues. There are references to the Babri demolition and to the South Indian community which the board wants removed. Meanwhile, another biopic, the Accidental Prime Minister, on the life of Manmohan Singh, has been released today. While biopics may be a rage, the question is this: Are most bio pics in India a whitewash job? And is this because our system is such that any movie that is critical may be difficult to release?

What gives the police the right to tell companies in Noida to tell their Muslim workers not to pray in a public park? Sure, there may be legal sanction - guidelines issued by the Supreme Court which banned the unauthorised use of public places for religious activities - but is that what this is really about? Let's look at it logically - a video emerges, apparently shot by a member of a fringe group, asking, rebuking in fact, Muslim citizens in a park. This video was reportedly handed over to the police and then companies were told "look, you had better warn your employees or else..." Now, the District Administration has said that the letter of the police will not apply, but the larger question remains: Why have this bizarre no namaz in a park diktat in the first place? Is majoritarianism the new normal?

Why are there different standards for rescuing people trapped in mines or caves in say Thailand, which saw the dramatic rescue of school kids a few months back, and in Meghalaya, where 15 miners are still missing, two weeks after they were trapped. And how is it that Indian designed pumps, made by the Kirloskars and their engineers could be used to make a huge difference in Thailand, while here, in India the state government couldn't get hold of any heavy duty pumps at all. Who is responsible? Yes, the mine was illegal, but is this how we treat our citizens?

There is outrage in Karnataka after remarks made by Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy asking someone to "kill them mercilessly." The remarks came soon after the murder of the Janta Dal Secular leader Honnalagere Prakash, who was hacked. As horrific as the murder was, does anything justify the Chief Minister of a state endorsing utter lawlessness and violence? To be sure, Mr Kumaraswamy says he was emotional at the time and that he was not passing any orders to have anyone murdered, but does anything justify these remarks?

The air in Delhi is now at dangerous levels almost at the same levels as we saw in the aftermath of Diwali and yet. Is it genuinely hopeless now at a time when there are statistics emerging that one in eight deaths in India can be linked directly to pollution. These numbers are staggering but why is air pollution not the top priority in the country right now? We talk about demonitisation and corruption as election themes, what about something like air pollution which is killing all of us? Tonight, we ask what explains this air apolcalpse in Delhi now.

Did you know that very soon conversations that you have on WhatsApp may be known to the government. That's right, encrypted communications which is at the heart of apps like WhatsApp may be a thing of the past after the government held discussions with several leading IT companies telling them that they have to provide the source of a particular message within 72 hours of having received a request from the government. The government says it is not trying to stalk citizens but has to have the ability to crack down on fake news and rumours which are a known killer in India. On the programme tonight, we debate: Is this about curbing fake news or does this mean that the freedoms and privacy we enjoy so much is effectively going to end.

The latest attempt by a group of women to enter the Sabarimala temple in Kerala has failed. Confronted by an angry mob of disciples who continue to prevent the entry of women despite a Supreme Court order, they were forced to turn back. The police say they could not do anything as the situation was getting volatile. The bottom line here is this; despite the orders of the highest court of the country, women of reproductive age continue to be barred from the temple with disciples intent on breaching of the Supreme Court's guidelines over this matter of faith.

A massive controversy has erupted over actor Naseeruddin Shah's recent statements where he spoke about the incidents of mob violence across the country and how the death of a cow had more significance than the death of a cop. The actor was referring to the recent Bulandshahr violence over cow deaths in which a cop was killed. He also spoke about how he feels anxious for his children. Yesterday, the organisers of the Ajmer Literature Festival had to cancel Naseeruddin Shah's keynote address after a protest by the BJP's youth wing outside the venue. Now, one of his contemporaries Anupam Kher has said just because Naseeruddin Shah spoke what he felt doesn't make it true. Tonight, on Left Right and Centre we ask, were we always this easily outraged and intolerant of opinions? Is social media a big factor for these issues blowing up?

It is going to be the single biggest issue in next year's general election - farmer distress. India's farmers are facing a crisis - a very real one. Very simply, they are just not getting enough money for their produce and they're taking their own lives. On NDTV today, all day, our effort has been to go from state to state to see what's happening on the ground, to hear the voices of farmers, to ask what they want and what they need many of them want farm loans to be waived, and politically this has become a huge row. With the newly elected Congress government in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh waiving farm loans going into thousands of crores, Rahul Gandhi has now dared the Prime Minister to do the same. Many economists argue that loan waivers are a stop gap, they don't benefit the small farmers who borrow from money lenders.