Parley by The Hindu

Beginning with the Maharashtra Assembly elections last year, Opposition parties have made many allegations regarding manipulations in electoral rolls. The Leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, and others have raised the matter both inside and outside Parliament. The Election Commission of India (ECI) has maintained that it is impossible to tamper with voter rolls. Two days ago, it issued instructions for holding Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar for the Assembly elections to ensure that the names of all eligible citizens are included, the name of no ineligible citizens are included, and to introduce complete transparency in the process of addition or deletion of electors in the electoral rolls. Is voter registration being subject to fraud? Here we discuss the question. Guests: Happymon Jacob, founder-director of the Council for Strategic and Defense Research; Prakash Karat, former general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) Host: Vighnesh P. Venkitesh Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian You can now find The Hindu’s podcasts on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Stitcher. Search for Parley by The Hindu. Write to us with comments and feedback at socmed4@thehindu.co.in

Beginning with the Maharashtra Assembly elections last year, Opposition parties have made many allegations regarding manipulations in electoral rolls. The Leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, and others have raised the matter both inside and outside Parliament. The Election Commission of India (ECI) has maintained that it is impossible to tamper with voter rolls. Two days ago, it issued instructions for holding Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar for the Assembly elections to ensure that the names of all eligible citizens are included, the name of no ineligible citizens are included, and to introduce complete transparency in the process of addition or deletion of electors in the electoral rolls. Is voter registration being subject to fraud? Here we discuss the question. Guests: Praveen Chakravarty, head of the Congress’s data analytics department; Rangarajan R., former IAS officer and author of Courseware on Polity Simplified Host: Sreeparna Chakrabarty Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian You can now find The Hindu’s podcasts on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Stitcher. Search for Parley by The Hindu. Write to us with comments and feedback at socmed4@thehindu.co.in

On June 16, the Registrar General of India under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs issued a notification that India’s population will be counted in 2027. Following demands by the Opposition parties, among other reasons, the government has also announced the inclusion of caste enumeration in the Census for the first time in independent India. The last Census was held in 2011. The exercise was to take place in 2021, but was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It has now been further pushed to 2027. Will delaying the Census affect its implementation? Here we discuss the question. Guests: Sanjay Kumar, Co-Director of Lokniti, a research programme at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, New Delhi; Poonam Muttreja, Executive Director, Population Foundation of India Host: Vijaita Singh

On June 7, on the eve of Eid ul Azha, the Chief Adviser to the interim government in Bangladesh, Dr. Muhammad Yunus, delivered a televised address to the nation, promising to hold elections in April 2026. He also announced that the country would witness the launch of the ‘July Proclamation’, which had been earlier planned by student activists to “bury” the Constitution of Bangladesh, as it is linked to the founder of Bangladesh and Awami League co-founder, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Prof. Yunus said that the document will “include a list of reform proposals, agreed upon by all parties, aimed at building a welfare-oriented state.” As the interim government of Bangladesh has announced that there could be constitutional reforms, there are concerns that the country is slipping into authoritarianism. Is Bangladesh slipping into authoritarianism? Here we discuss the question. Guests: Smruti S. Pattanaik, Research Fellow, Manohar Parrikar Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses; Sanjay Pulipaka, Chairperson of the Politeia Research Foundation Host: Kallol Bhattacherjee Audio edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian You can now find The Hindu’s podcasts on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Stitcher. Search for Parley by The Hindu. Write to us with comments and feedback at socmed4@thehindu.co.in

Discussions are ongoing in India to amend both the country’s nuclear liability framework, regulated by the 2010 Civil Liability for Nuclear Damages Act (CLNDA) the 1962 Atomic Energy Act to allow private companies to build and operate nuclear energy generation facilities. This move is part of a broader strategy to expand India’s nuclear energy capacity from the current 8 GW to 100 GW by 2047, aligning with the country’s clean energy goals. India has 22 nuclear power generation plants operated by the state-run Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL), while two more sites in Andhra and Maharashtra have ongoing projects that have been delayed mainly due to reservations that Electricite de France through Areva and the American Westinghouse Corporation - have on India’s supplier liability clause. India’s CLNDA is unique in explicitly allowing the operator of a nuclear facility to seek recourse against suppliers in specific cases of defective equipment or services. There have been both support for these amendments and criticism against them. Should India amend its nuclear energy laws? Here we discuss the question.   Guests: Dr. Ashley Tellis and D. Raghunandan Host: Kunal Shankar Edited by Jude Francis Weston

On May 20, 2025, the Supreme Court restored a minimum of three years of legal practice as a mandatory condition to apply for entry-level judicial service. The ruling reverses the Court’s 2002 decision that had removed the practice requirement, originally mandated by a 1993 judgment. Is the three-year practice requirement a welcome move? Here we discuss the question. Guests: Prashant Reddy T., co-author of Tareekh Pe Justice: Reforms for India’s District Courts; Bharat Chugh, Delhi-based advocate and former civil judge Host: Aaratrika Bhaumik Edited by Jude Francis Weston

Parallel to the escalation of the recent military tensions between India and Pakistan, misinformation and disinformation surged online, making it increasingly difficult for the public to distinguish between fact and fiction. Many media outlets published sensational stories, riddled with unverified claims, and disseminated fake pictures and videos. Jingoism often drove the public response. Is establishing the truth a problem during a conflict? Here we discuss the question. Guests: Nirupama Subramanian, independent journalist who was The Hindu’s correspondent in Pakistan from 2006 to 2010; Pratik Sinha, co-founder, AltNews, a fact-checking website Host: Mandira Moddie You can now find The Hindu’s podcasts on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Stitcher. Search for Parley by The Hindu. Write to us with comments and feedback at socmed4@thehindu.co.in

According to the Sample Registration System report for 2021 released by the Registrar General of India on May 7, the Total Fertility Rate (TFR), which is the average number of children that a woman is expected to have in her childbearing years, in India was 2.0 in 2021, the same as in 2020. While Delhi and West Bengal reported the lowest TFR of 1.4, Bihar reported the highest at 3.0. Is Bihar’s high replacement rate a consequence of poverty? We discuss the question here. Guests: Saswata Ghosh, Prasenjit Bose Host: Shiv Sahay Singh You can now find The Hindu’s podcasts on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Stitcher. Search for Parley by The Hindu. Write to us with comments and feedback at socmed4@thehindu.co.in

The recent death of a young entrepreneur, who reportedly took the extreme step after she lost followers on social media, is sufficient reason for us to pause and assess the role of social media in our lives. There is no doubt that social media is here to stay and has a huge role to play in our lives. By holding up a world that seems perfect, and fickle with its devotion, social media can take a toll on mental health, particularly that of youngsters. On the other hand, the Netflix series Adolescence dragged us willy-nilly into a world of teenagers that adults thought they understood but were actually far off the mark from. Given the centrality of social media in the lives of children, how can adults navigate this terrain? Can parents keep tabs on the social media use of teens? Here we discuss the question. Guests: Meghna Singhal, clinical psychotherapist from NIMHANS and parenting coach; Sannuthi Suresh, programme co-ordinatior, healing and support services, Tulir Centre for Prevention and Healing of Child Sexual Abuse Host: Ramya Kannan Edited by Jude Francis Weston

The calculated brutality of the terror attack in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir appears to have crossed a red line for India-Pakistan ties that were already at an all-time low. Following its diplomatic measures against Pakistan, what appropriate military response can India craft? Has the Pahalgam attack crossed a red line? Here we discuss the question. Guests: Sharat Sabharwal, Former High Commissioner to Pakistan and author of India’s Pakistan Conundrum: Managing a Complex Relationship; Lieutenant General (Retired) Deependra Singh Hooda, Former Commander in Chief of the Indian Army’s Northern Command and oversaw the surgical strikes across the Line of Control in 2016 Host: Suhasini Haidar