Bengal on boil over Kolkata doctor's rape-murder; I.N.D.I.A. sets sights on SEBI chief after new Hindenburg report

Greetings readers,

We are back with the major political updates of the week. Over the past seven-days, the country witnessed significant political developments with India turning 78. A war-of-words broke out over Hindenburg Research’s report on alleged connections between the SEBI chief and Adani Group, and the safety of Indian women, after the doctor's rape-murder in Kolkata.

On the world stage, Thailand saw 37-year-old Paetongtarn Shinawatra become the youngest-ever Prime Minister of the country.

So brace yourselves as we take you on a political tour from the streets of West of Bengal to the ramparts of the Red Fort in this week's DH Political Theatre.

Kolkata rape brings out Mamata’s potential as opposition

The Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government has been facing the flak after the semi-naked body of a trainee doctor with multiple injuries was found in the R G Kar Medical College and Hospital of the state capital. The victim was allegedly raped and then murdered while she went to rest in the seminar hall of the college. A member of the contractual staff of the Kolkata police was arrested for the alleged crime.

The incident has had two different impacts on ‘I.N.D.I.A.’ and ‘India’, confusing the former and angering the latter to the core.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee seems to be the most ‘confused’ of all as she has started playing the role of both government and opposition in the state.

While BJP leaders were reportedly stopped from holding a protest rally, she herself took out the same, in her own state, demanding death penalty for the accused from the same judiciary that slammed Kolkata police for ‘no significant progress in the investigation’ and handed over the probe to CBI.

Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi, on the other hand, broke his silence on the matter and questioned the local administration. This did not sit well with his I.N.D.I.A. bloc ally, and Banerjee reminded the grand old party of the crimes that were committed in Congress-ruled states.

Leader of the opposition in West Bengal, Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP, on Thursday wrote to the Centre, seeking security by paramilitary forces at the Medical College which was vandalised amid the ongoing protests. The saffron party has also demanded the resignation of CM Banerjee.

Meanwhile, resident doctors across major government hospitals of the country are on a strike over the demand for better security and safety measures for medical personnel, and the central law.

I.N.D.I.A. sets sights on SEBI chief after new Hindenburg report

US short-seller Hindenburg Research, on Saturday, alleged that SEBI’s unwillingness to act against the Adani Group may be attributed to its chief Madhabi Puri Buch having stakes in offshore funds linked to the conglomerate.

It has been alleged by the short-seller that Madhabi and her husband Dhaval Buch had invested in one of the funds which was allegedly being used by Vinod Adani, Gautam Adani’s brother. It also flagged Dhaval’s association with private equity major Blackstone, a promoter of multiple real estate investment trusts (REITs), and SEBI’s continued pitch for investors to invest in them.

Both the SEBI chief and the Adani Group have denied the allegations. Meanwhile, the BJP-led central government added the report to its long list of reportage ‘portraying India in a bad light’.

The opposition Congress party has asked for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the matter calling it Adani ‘scam’. This prompted BJP leader and former law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to call the report a nexus between Congress, its allies and Hindenburg “to attack independent institutions of the country.” The BJP leader also accused Congress of trying to bring “economic anarchy” in India.

While the report did initially impact the shares of Adani Enterprises Ltd., with stocks sliding as much as 5.5 per cent in early Mumbai trading and Adani Energy Solutions Ltd plunging 17 per cent, the conglomerate recovered much of its losses as global index manager MSCI lifted its restrictions on the treatment of Adani Group stocks.

World’s largest democracy announces elections for J&K after a decade

The Election Commission of India got reminded of India’s title of being the world’s largest democracy on Friday and announced three-phased Assembly polls for the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir from September 18. Haryana will also go to polls along with Jammu and Kashmir but in one phase on October 1.

Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, while addressing the press conference, made sure of uttering the word ‘democracy’ in different languages (Jamhuriyat, Loktantra) as many times as possible.

A day before the announcement of the election dates, the J&K administration transferred several officials, including deputy commissioners.

Meanwhile, elections for Maharashtra and Jharkhand Assemblies have not been announced yet, keeping the security requirements of Jammu and Kashmir in mind.

The ‘fifth row’ row

As India celebrated its 78th Independence Day on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made yet another record. The PM delivered the longest-ever Independence Day speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort. In the 98-min speech, PM Modi made an unambiguous pitch for the implementation of a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the country, the need for speedy probe into matters related to crimes against women, and bringing youth without any political lineage into politics; the last bit being a dig at Congress’ ‘tryst with dynasty.’

The event has given rise to a controversy over the protocol regarding seating arrangements as Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi was seen sitting in the fifth row, behind the Olympic medal winners who had returned from Paris.

The Congress party has accused the Prime Minister of “pettiness”. Congress General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal claimed that the arrogance with which Rahul was "relegated" to the fifth row shows that Modi has not learned his lesson from the Lok Sabha results and it is time to wake up to the "new reality".

Yunus dials Modi; Thailand gets new(bie) PM

More than a week after former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the violence-hit country and took refuge in India, the interim government is still finding it difficult to lead the country towards peace. With incidents of violence against minorities being reported, Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus dialed PM Modi on Friday, assuring the protection, safety and security of Hindus and all other minorities in his country.

On the other hand, after Khaleda Zia was released from house arrest, the former Bangladesh premier's party on Thursday held sit-in programmes across the country, demanding the arrest and trial of ousted leader Sheikh Hasina and her accomplices for the recent violence in the country.

In another Asian country, Thailand, a newbie has been elected as the Prime minister. Paetongtarn Shinawatra, daughter of political heavyweight and businessman Thaksin Shinawatra is the youngest prime minister of the country. It will be interesting to note how the 37-year-old whose first reaction to getting the top job was posting a picture of her lunch - chicken rice - with the caption: "The first meal after listening to the vote,” will fit in her new role.

That is all the political drama that unfolded this week. DH Political Theatre will be back again next week with more advancements from around the globe.

Exit Stage Left,

DH Newsletters Team