Sayani Chakraborty, Author at Alive

The West Bengal government enacted a bill on June 13, 2022, to replace the Governor with the Chief Minister as the Chancellor of 31 state public universities such as Calcutta University and Jadavpur University. According to the All India Higher Education Survey (2019-20), state public institutions in India educate over 86% of all students enrolled in higher education in the country. Here, we examine the function of the Governor at state-supported colleges. Legislation approved by state legislatures establishes state public universities. Governors in most states are named chancellors of these colleges and universities by law. The vice-chancellor is appointed by the Chancellor, who is the leader of public institutions. Chancellors have the power to invalidate any university action tha...

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Sri Lanka’s Uprising And Its Transitional Challenges

Sayani ChakrabortyJuly 18, 20220

A popular revolt in Sri Lanka has finally brought down the Rajapaksa government. Throughout the globe, the massive demonstrations asking for the resignation of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and President Gotabaja Rajakkasa are serving as lessons on democracy. Where do we go from here in terms of political activism? Will the ashes be swept under the rug in the next weeks and months, or will the massive awakening of political awareness shape politics for the foreseeable future? The state and society in Sri Lanka are likely to be transformed as a result of the current political and economic crises. What are the immediate prospects for progressive forms of political and economic stabilisation while we wrestle with these historical questions? It's hard to have faith in a successful ...

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Nation Seeks Clarity From Indian Court Over Court Judgement On Zakia Ahsan Jafri

Sayani ChakrabortyJuly 15, 20220

More than 450 pages of "annexures" are included in the Supreme Court of India's ruling in Zakia Ahsan Jafri v State of Gujarat (2022). For those who don't know what they're looking at, it would appear like Narendra Modi and Amit Shah were acquitted after a lengthy trial in which they were charged with crimes against humanity. It's not, unfortunately. It is, ironically, putting together all the facts and evidence to prove that these two political leaders do not need to face any criminal charges. When the Court dismissed the necessity to look into the circumstances behind Judge Brijgopal Harkishan Loya's death, it used the same manoeuvre (Tehseen Poonawalla v Union of India [2018]). In both the Loya and Jafri cases, the petition was to begin an inquiry rather than to reach a conclusion on...

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Palaniswami Outsmarts Panneerselvam? A Cult Leader Likely To Win Next Election As Per AIADMK

Sayani ChakrabortyJuly 15, 20220

Edappadi K Palaniswami seized leadership of AIADMK and expelled O Panneerselvam after an unusual experiment in Indian politics: a party jointly governed by two leaders. The partnership between EPS and OPS was first established in 2017 and has been going strong ever since. As the chief minister of Tamil Nadu and a co-convener of the AIADMK, EPS and OPS worked together to remove an imprisoned VK Sasikala. A four-year prison sentence that began in February 2017 snatched control of the party from her hands after Jayalalithaa's death in 2016. AIADMK's tumultuous history is unique in Indian politics. Sasikala has a soft spot for OPS and EPS in her music collection at one point or another. Even though OPS is now in disgrace, she had already chosen him as her successor on two previous times...

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Digging Deep To Dissect The Colossal Chaos In Maharashtra

Sayani ChakrabortyJuly 15, 20220

The BJP-Shiv Sena combo won India's 2019 parliamentary and Maharashtra state legislature elections. Every seat has a poster of Narendra Modi or Devendra Fadnavis. Both parties' candidates lauded the double-engine sarkar's quick expansion, iron-fisted law and order, and focus on Hindu nationalism. Even Uddhav Thackeray attended rallies where the BJP's national leadership promised that Modi and Fadnavis will rule the government if Maharashtra was re-elected. Sharad Pawar, Sonia Gandhi, and Sanjay Raut urged Uddhav Thackeray to forge an artificial coalition with the NCP and Congress. Thackeray's NCP and Congress allies rapidly took control, leaving Thackeray and his son Aaditya as bystanders. Maharashtra had three years of NCP-Congress governance before 2014, and it saw frequent ter...

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Deal Or Dialogue: Democracy Is On The Verge Of Collapsing, Who Is To Blame In Politics?

Sayani ChakrabortyJuly 11, 20220

Defections from Maha Vikas Aghadi or the Great Development Front coalition government have been widely seen as a sign of self-interest by those who defected from them. It has always been difficult to determine who is to blame in politics based on the diversity of group/sectional interests. The solution to this critical issue may be summarised thusly: Both of them are to blame. However, their flaws vary in kind. There's an ethical obligation on major political parties, for example, to align their policies with constitutional ideals, party programmes, and the backing of smaller political groupings. In order to improve the country's image abroad, it is incumbent upon a party with significant numbers and financial clout to put together a government that adheres to fundamental democratic ideals...

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Watch Out For Boris: Change In UK’s Leadership Has No Bearing On International Politics

Sayani ChakrabortyJuly 8, 20220

Following a slew of controversies, Boris' own party eventually decided it had had enough of all the loud theatre and decided to skip the performance. Boris Johnson stepped down as thr Prime Minister of the UK and leader of the Conservative Party yesterday, following in the footsteps of many other prominent cabinet members who had already quit. His party will now vote for a new leader, and the country will perhaps look forward to more policy stability about important problems. A change in leadership in the United Kingdom, however, is both interesting and of little relevance given the country's little impact on the political landscape of the rest of the world. It is a fascinating morality tale that has ramifications for other democracies to see how a leader who led his party to its...

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Bulldozer-Led Demolitions Among India’s Extralegal Penalties; Risk To Losing Public Confidence

Sayani ChakrabortyJuly 6, 20220

Modern jurisprudence holds that sanctions should fit the offence and that criminality is influenced by society. A court system that ignores current jurisprudence risks losing legitimacy and public confidence. A political perspective of the judicial system would also reflect public opinion, mass media, and the demands of dominant political parties and economic elites. This fused political system affects India's rule of law. The police and courts, the municipal corporation and civil administration, the media, and the universities have little to no operational independence. A political apparatus makes the rule of law more arbitrary. The arbitrariness of India's politicised judicial and civil systems may be seen in the rising use of bulldozer-led demolitions as extralegal penalties. ...

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Politicising Police Shattering India’s Law And Order System; Here’s How!

Sayani ChakrabortyJuly 6, 20220

Due to increased political polarisation, interstate arrests have become a contentious issue for law enforcement. Disputes broke out between the police forces of Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh after the arrest of a TV presenter who was accused of broadcasting a fake report about Rahul Gandhi. An attempt by the Punjab police to arrest BJP leader Tejinder Singh Bagga for his filthy words directed at Arvind Kejriwal some time ago was thwarted by the Haryana and Delhi police, who were working together on the case. Interstate arrests by law enforcement do not need a warrant issued by a local court. On the other hand, one must also observe proper social protocol. In relation to this particular investigation, the Chhattisgarh police got a warrant. As a consequence of this, in contrast to the ...

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Telangana Election: KCR Resembles TMC In Its Fight Against BJP Amid Fierce Political Battle

Sayani ChakrabortyJuly 5, 20220

The BJP's national executive meeting in Hyderabad was expected to include a fair amount of slurs at its opponents. TRS, the party in power in Telangana elections scheduled for 2023, was the true aim. Because of the large penalties levied on BJP and TRS for using unlicensed banners and posters, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation has done well for itself. It's also an early sign of a brutal poll struggle between parties who have a lot of money at their disposal. After narrowly defeating AIMIM in the GHMC elections in 2020, the BJP seemed poised for an explosive rise. Also helping to spread the word were the wins in two bypolls. The BJP has advantages in several areas. To begin with, KCR has unintentionally assisted the BJP by allowing a mass defection of Congress members from...

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AIDMK Upheaval: Will O Paneerselvam Meet Sasikala To Recover His Past Deeds?

Sayani ChakrabortyJuly 5, 20220

V.K. Sasikala has been dogged by scandals and bribery claims from Koovathur to Parappana Agrahara ever since he emerged as 'Chinnamma' during Jayalalithaa's funeral in a new avatar. Sasikala has been going through a worrisome phase since then. Ex-Chairman Edappadi Palanisamy said that Sasikala has no ties to the party and that all of her assertions are false. The party's coordinator, O. Paneerselvam, on the other hand, presents an opposing statement. OPS added, "AIADMK is a cadre-based party, and the party high leadership will debate and decide regarding Sasikala's reinduction. Now, "the dual leadership" is in charge of the party. Discord has broken out among the party's leaders as the co-convener of EPS, Sasikala, flatly opposed her inclusion. AIADMK is not concerned about VK Sasikala ...

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Anti-Defection Statute Is Ineffective In Times Of Crises; It Should Be Repealed

Sayani ChakrabortyJuly 4, 20220

Maharashtra's anti-defection statute has again come to the fore in the recent political upheavals in the state. There are a number of issues to be resolved. While a no-confidence vote is being considered, may the Speaker (or in his absence, the Deputy Speaker) rule on a petition for disqualification of the current Speaker? Is it possible for the Supreme Court to examine the judgement before it is made? If two-thirds of the party's MLAs choose to break away from the party's leadership, would they have to unite with another party to avoid being disqualified from the election? As a first step, we must address the core source of these problems and abolish the anti-defection statute. In a nutshell, the anti-defection rule, also known as the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, prohibits MPs a...