This week on NL #Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal and Jayashree Arunachalam are joined by Kavita Murlidharan, an independent journalist.

Kavita speaks about what’s driving the #AssemblyElections campaign in Tamil Nadu. "It's difficult to understand the mood of the people this time because we don't have Karunanidhi and Jayalalitha. They have been driving the elections in Tamil Nadu for the last 50 years. There's no clear replacement yet," she says.

Laying out the various possibilities, Kavita adds, "If the DMK comes to power it would primarily be because we have had 10 years of AIADMK and the people seem to have become tired of it.”

Talking about the surge in coronavirus infections in the country, the panel focus on the centralisation of vaccine distribution and discuss whether giving states more autonomy in the vaccination exercise would have been more ideal. "This disease has brought in a streak of dictatorship," remarks Raman.

The conversation also spans the #Covid situation in the light of the ongoing elections, legacy media's narrative on the #Scaniacase, #Rafael deal and unethical practices during elections. "I feel the media is failing,” argues Jayashree, “because the media and its institutions are so compromised that all of these issues are dying a very quiet death.” This, and much more on #NLHafta.

Tune in to the full podcast: https://www.newslaundry.com/2021/04/10/hafta-323-covid-surge-assembly-elections-and-scania-scandal

***
The full episode is behind the paywall. To listen, subscribe to Newslaundry: https://www.newslaundry.com/subscription?ref=hafta

Subscribe to Newslaundry: https://www.newslaundry.com/subscription?ref=social

Follow and engage with us on social media:
Facebook: https://facebook.com/newslaundry
Twitter: https://twitter.com/newslaundry
Instagram: https://instagram.com/newslaundry