Daily Briefing: In duel for Delhi, who takes the cake?

The playbook: Nobody can fault AAP for not trying. The party returned to its roots, preferring door-to-door campaigns over big rallies. With the corruption charges against AAP finding little traction on the ground, the party went big on its popular welfare schemes and even a last-minute push for the middle class.

The challenger: The BJP, meanwhile, is banking on AAP’s shrinking margins in the national capital. In what’s largely shaping up to be a two-cornered fight, the BJP may have made inroads where AAP’s “freebies” could not. The BJP’s hopes lie in the growing disillusionment with the ruling party that has failed to deliver on development and infrastructure.

Minority stakes: The Congress has been third-wheeling this election campaign but may prove to be a thorn in AAP’s side when it comes to the crucial Muslim vote.

🎧 For more on the Delhi elections, tune in to today’s episode of the ‘3 Things’ podcast.

Only in Express

In our ongoing series tracking landmark cases in the 75 years of the Indian Republic, today we spotlight A K Gopalan. When the clock struck midnight on August 15, 1947, Gopalan was in jail, a political prisoner of the colonial government. In the newly-Independent India, he was detained once again under old colonial laws. In 1950, when the Constitution came into force, Gopalan moved Supreme Court, hoping for a reprieve. While he lost the case, the questions raised during AK Gopalan v State of Madras continue to shape our rights and freedoms today.

From the Front Page

Suspended: The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Monday suspended Rajeev Sijariya after he was arrested by the CBI in a bribery case linked to the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). However, Sijariya, a professor at JNU’s management school with over 25 years of experience, is no stranger to controversy.

Fact-check: In Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s Parliament speech on Monday, there was a new tact, one that favoured conciliatory gestures over bitter acrimony. There were also familiar threads, including his claims over “irregularities” in the Maharashtra Assembly elections. Gandhi has charged that a staggering 70 lakh voters were added to the state’s electoral rolls between the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. Data from the Election Commission, however, says otherwise.

Must Read

Federal rehaul: Trump’s administration has a new mantra: minimum government, maximum efficiency. His trusted deputy Elon Musk is running the Department of Government Efficiency which aims to reduce government spending. Their latest victim? The United States Agency of International Development (USAID), established in 1961 to provide international assistance.

Big cat menace: Wedding guests are yet to RSVP. Classes have gone online. Terror and despair have struck 11 villages near Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow. What’s the matter? A ‘sugarcane tiger’ is on the prowl. Not all is lost yet. Authorities have deputed around 100 officials round the clock to capture the tiger that has eluded the forest department so far.

And Finally…

The 2024 YR4 asteroid is not as big as the one that wiped out the dinosaurs from the Earth. It could, however, release 8 to 10 megatons of energy if it crashes. In 2023, an asteroid half its size had released about 30 times more energy than the Hiroshima atomic bomb. But you needn’t worry. The chances of the 2024 YR4 crashing into Earth (in 2032, if it does) are just slightly over 1 per cent.

That’s all for today, folks! Until tomorrow,
Sonal Gupta

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