Above the Fold: Top stories of the day
1. The government continues to aggressively insist that the Supreme Court realise the problems of the collegium system of appointments, calling on judges to "wear a burqa" and walk around the court to listen to what lawyers are actually saying.
2. Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader LK Advani, in an interview to the Indian Express ahead of the 40th anniversary of the Emergency, said that he doesn't believe that India has enough of a commitment to democracy to avoid another similar situation.
3. The government's "Housing for All' scheme will now actually come closer to upholding the "all" part of it, with the Cabinet clearing a proposal to include families earning up to Rs 6 lakh as opposed to just up to Rs 2 lakh earlier.
4. Charles Correa, India's best-known architect, town-planner and all-around genius, has died. He was 84.
The Big Story: Guilt By Association
The Opposition is not going to let up on the Lalit Modi scandal, where the controversial founder of the Indian Premier League was allegedly granted help by the External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje in obtaining travel documents, though he is accused of money laundering in India. The Congress has grabbed on to the scandal as an opportunity to hit prime minister Narendra Modi himself, particularly since he came to power promising a corruption-free India and, moreover, has always portrayed himself as the real decision maker in government.
Simply leaving the situation as it is, so that the discourse can eventually move on will be a difficult task. Lalit Modi comes with an automatic suspicion of corruption, thanks to his freewheeling, extravagant ways and recent willingness to name names in the political establishment, whether they were friends or enemies. The government, for example, made a clear decision to back Sushma Swaraj across the board, but was less prepare to offer the same support to Raje.
Meanwhile, various arms of the government, including the Enforcement Directorate and the External Affairs Ministry have gotten into a tussle over whose responsibility it was to ensure Modi's passport wasn't cancelled. And allegations of nepotism and more favours in connection to Modi are continuing to emerge. All of this leaves Narendra Modi's government in a very difficult spot, with the Monsoon session of Parliament and the Bihar elections not far away.
The Big Scroll: Scroll.in on the day's biggest story
If the Lalit Modi scandal is a product of BJP infighting, whoever is behind it is playing with fire. Will the BJP sacrifice Sushma Swaraj and Vasundhara Raje to maintain its clean image? "Please help me get my passport back too," an anti-nuclear protestor pleads with Sushma Swaraj.
To get Scroll's Daily Fix, a compendium of all you need to know for the day (and a little more) on your phone, download our Android app.
Politicking & Policying
1. The Opposition and even some ministers in Jammu and Kashmir have spoken up about the lack of adequate funds offered by the Centre as part of a rehabilitation package in the aftermath of last year's floods, a day after the government announced a total of Rs 2,400 crore. The original demand had been around Rs 44,000 crore.
2. The Rajasthan Congress has decided to use chief minister Vasundhara Raje's alleged involvement in the Lalit Modi scandal as the platform to call for her resignation.
3. The government is desperate to not just connect yoga to brand India, but also to prove that it is an effective treatment, and has commissioned extensive research in an attempt to prove this.
4. Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar handily retained his post as chief of the Mumbai Cricket Association, with his panel also grabbing 15 of the 17 managing committee posts.
Punditry
1. Charles Correa was a great thinker, but his "writing was not as a detached or theoretical observer." Instead, he understood the messiness that came with cities and sought to be a part of urban planning, writes Gautam Bhatia in the Indian Express.
2. Prabhat Patnaik in the Telegraph calls for the Nuremberg Principle to be applied in reverse for Maoists who haven't been accused of individual crime, saying that membership to a body is not enough to prove criminality.
3. A leader in Mint applauds the transport agreement signed between Bhutan, Bangladesh, India and Nepal and calls on South Asian nations not to be fettered in by multilateral fora that end up as just talking shops.
4. Varghese K George in the Hindu strikes a cautious note in the face of the exuberance from the Janata Parivar combine in Bihar, saying it might attempt too much political stitching in too little time.
Don't Miss
Apoorvananad, Ali Javed and Satish Deshpande write about the sensitive situation that continues to be tense in Ballabgarh, which was hit by communal violence last month.
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1. The government continues to aggressively insist that the Supreme Court realise the problems of the collegium system of appointments, calling on judges to "wear a burqa" and walk around the court to listen to what lawyers are actually saying.
2. Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader LK Advani, in an interview to the Indian Express ahead of the 40th anniversary of the Emergency, said that he doesn't believe that India has enough of a commitment to democracy to avoid another similar situation.
3. The government's "Housing for All' scheme will now actually come closer to upholding the "all" part of it, with the Cabinet clearing a proposal to include families earning up to Rs 6 lakh as opposed to just up to Rs 2 lakh earlier.
4. Charles Correa, India's best-known architect, town-planner and all-around genius, has died. He was 84.
The Big Story: Guilt By Association
The Opposition is not going to let up on the Lalit Modi scandal, where the controversial founder of the Indian Premier League was allegedly granted help by the External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje in obtaining travel documents, though he is accused of money laundering in India. The Congress has grabbed on to the scandal as an opportunity to hit prime minister Narendra Modi himself, particularly since he came to power promising a corruption-free India and, moreover, has always portrayed himself as the real decision maker in government.
Simply leaving the situation as it is, so that the discourse can eventually move on will be a difficult task. Lalit Modi comes with an automatic suspicion of corruption, thanks to his freewheeling, extravagant ways and recent willingness to name names in the political establishment, whether they were friends or enemies. The government, for example, made a clear decision to back Sushma Swaraj across the board, but was less prepare to offer the same support to Raje.
Meanwhile, various arms of the government, including the Enforcement Directorate and the External Affairs Ministry have gotten into a tussle over whose responsibility it was to ensure Modi's passport wasn't cancelled. And allegations of nepotism and more favours in connection to Modi are continuing to emerge. All of this leaves Narendra Modi's government in a very difficult spot, with the Monsoon session of Parliament and the Bihar elections not far away.
The Big Scroll: Scroll.in on the day's biggest story
If the Lalit Modi scandal is a product of BJP infighting, whoever is behind it is playing with fire. Will the BJP sacrifice Sushma Swaraj and Vasundhara Raje to maintain its clean image? "Please help me get my passport back too," an anti-nuclear protestor pleads with Sushma Swaraj.
To get Scroll's Daily Fix, a compendium of all you need to know for the day (and a little more) on your phone, download our Android app.
Politicking & Policying
1. The Opposition and even some ministers in Jammu and Kashmir have spoken up about the lack of adequate funds offered by the Centre as part of a rehabilitation package in the aftermath of last year's floods, a day after the government announced a total of Rs 2,400 crore. The original demand had been around Rs 44,000 crore.
2. The Rajasthan Congress has decided to use chief minister Vasundhara Raje's alleged involvement in the Lalit Modi scandal as the platform to call for her resignation.
3. The government is desperate to not just connect yoga to brand India, but also to prove that it is an effective treatment, and has commissioned extensive research in an attempt to prove this.
4. Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar handily retained his post as chief of the Mumbai Cricket Association, with his panel also grabbing 15 of the 17 managing committee posts.
Punditry
1. Charles Correa was a great thinker, but his "writing was not as a detached or theoretical observer." Instead, he understood the messiness that came with cities and sought to be a part of urban planning, writes Gautam Bhatia in the Indian Express.
2. Prabhat Patnaik in the Telegraph calls for the Nuremberg Principle to be applied in reverse for Maoists who haven't been accused of individual crime, saying that membership to a body is not enough to prove criminality.
3. A leader in Mint applauds the transport agreement signed between Bhutan, Bangladesh, India and Nepal and calls on South Asian nations not to be fettered in by multilateral fora that end up as just talking shops.
4. Varghese K George in the Hindu strikes a cautious note in the face of the exuberance from the Janata Parivar combine in Bihar, saying it might attempt too much political stitching in too little time.
Don't Miss
Apoorvananad, Ali Javed and Satish Deshpande write about the sensitive situation that continues to be tense in Ballabgarh, which was hit by communal violence last month.
"It is a long story of tears, shock, anger, frustration, betrayal and helplessness. We saw neighbours throwing petrol, women with trollies. They destroyed everything.” He shows us the burnt grain from the sacks lying there. “Tell us what do we eat? They burnt my tempo. It used to feed us, and the eight children of this house. What do I do now? Was the tempo building the mosque? They should have burnt me. Why the tempo?”