Uttar Pradesh sends the highest number of MPs to the Lok Sabha, at 80. BJP leaders have claimed that they are winning all 80 of these seats; in 2019 the National Democratic Alliance had won 64 of seats and the BJP on its own had won 62. The INDIA alliance has responded to this by saying that this time, they are going to win 79 of the 80 seats, and are in competition for the last one. Beyond the political rhetoric, what is the mood on the ground? The Wire‘s Jahnavi Sen speaks to documentary filmmaker and Chal Chitra Abhiyan founder Nakul Singh Sawhney and The Wire‘s Editor Seema Chishti on what they witnessed in the state.
The three also discuss what the political campaign landscape has looked like during this Lok Sabha election, Payal Kapadia’s win at the Cannes film festival and what that signifies, the growth of ‘alternate’ media voices and the most recent attacks by Israel on Rafah, Palestine.
