DailyBrief: BJP wins 3/3 elections in NE: Why this matters; And Rahul Gandhi takes aim at Modi govt in Cambridge speech

Market Watch

• Indian benchmark indices ended the day in the green, with the Sensex up 900 points at 59,809, and Nifty up 272 points at 17,594.
• Sectorally, all indices gained with Nifty PSU Bank (+5.04%) and Metals (+3.5%) rising the most.

BJP scores a 3/3 in Tripura, Nagaland, and Meghalaya

The BJP has bagged majorities in Tripura and Nagaland and appears likely to ally with Conrad Sangma’s National People’s Party (NPP) in Meghalaya, allowing it to retain all three northeastern states.

Tripura: The BJP and its ally - the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) - secured a majority with 33 out of 60 seats, securing a second term.?

• The newly-formed Tipra Motha party emerged as the second-largest party in the state on its debut election with 13 seats.
• The BJP first won Tripura in 2018, breaking a 25-year grip that the Left had on the state.

Nagaland: The BJP secured 12 seats in Nagaland while the ruling Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) won 25 seats, allowing the duo to trounce the Naga People’s Front and the Congress, which won two and zero seats respectively.

• The BJP has been in power in Nagaland through alliances since at least 2003.

Meghalaya: At first it seemed like Meghalaya was headed for a hung house until the NPP decided to bring back its alliance with the BJP in hopes of forming a governing coalition.

• Interestingly, the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) has also opened its account in the state and will form the official opposition in the state.

Between the lines: The BJP’s focus on its development credentials, as well as softening its Hindu religious agenda in the Christian-dominant region where beef is a staple food, enabled the party to emerge as the winner in the northeast.

• It was also aided by a shrewd poll strategy of selecting the right regional partners with popular mandates, like the NDPP, IPFT, and NPP.

“Indian democracy under attack”: Rahul Gandhi at Cambridge University

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, in a lecture at Cambridge University, alleged that the BJP-led central government is weakening Indian democratic institutions and is spying on him.

What he said: Delivering a speech to MBA students at Cambridge Judge Business School, the MP said, “Indian democracy is under attack,” and accused the government of controlling the media and judiciary.

• “I myself had Pegasus on my phone,” he said, referring to a notorious Israeli spyware, adding that it was used by the government to snoop on Opposition leaders.
• He claimed that Opposition members were locked up in jail merely for standing in front of Parliament while “talking about certain issues.” Gandhi also alleged that minorities and the media are facing attacks.

The big picture: The Congress MP was giving a lecture on ‘Learning to Listen in the 21st Century’ during which he also spoke about the Bharat Jodo Yatra and the “divergent perspectives” of the US and China since World War II.

• Rahul Gandhi has systematically targeted the BJP-led central government during talks he has delivered on foreign soil over the last few years.

Of note: His chief complaints against the government seem to be: that the BJP is “crushing the soul of the country” (London, Ideas for India conference in May 2022); that PM Modi is “damaging the country” (Germany, Indian Journalist Association, Aug 2018); that he would have “thrown the file on demonetization into the dustbin” (Malaysia, 2017); that the BJP has created “a general atmosphere of intimidation” (Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore, March 2018); and that the BJP is “converting fear into hatred between communities,” (NRI convention, Bahrain Jan 2018).

ICYMI

• A virtual event with US Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller was axed on Thursday after the Zoom meeting was hijacked and pornographic images were played on the feed.
• Bollywood star Deepika Padukone will be a celebrity presenter at the 2023 Oscars ceremony in Los Angeles on March 13.
• Popular AI chatbot ChatGPT, which has proved its capability by clearing some of the world's toughest exams, has failed the preliminary exam for India’s Union Public Service Commission.
• Authorities in Colombia are sending at least 70 hippopotamuses that live near the late drug lord Pablo Escobar’s ranch to India and Mexico.
• Top US lawyer Alex Murdaugh was found guilty of murdering his wife and son by a South Carolina jury and is now facing 30 years to life imprisonment for each murder.
• A gang of fraudsters used publicly-available GST numbers of several celebrities including Abhishek Bachchan, Shilpa Shetty, Madhuri Dixit, Emraan Hashmi and M S Dhoni to procure their PAN card details and get credit cards issued in their name.
• Market regulator SEBI has cracked down on a YouTube-run share pump-and-dump scheme involving Bollywood actor Arshad Warsi.