Political Adda throws light on events, policy announcements, court judgments that has shaped the political discourse. Let's take a glimpse of the month of September.

The release of former Siwan MP has caused much unease in the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar. Shahabuddin’s release has from jail after amid much fanfare and celebration amongst his supporters has sparked of a wider debate, whether criminals like him are still relevant in Nitish’s ‘Naya Bihar’; criminals are seen to be remnants of Lalu’ ‘jungle raj’. However, two days back, his bail plea was dismissed by the Supreme Court and the infamous don of Bihar is back behind the bars.

Popularly named as ‘Khat Pe Charcha”, the Congress’s and Prashant Kishor’s new campaign strategy to woo rural voters in Uttar Pradesh has pushed the party from oblivion into the limelight. Alas, the Khat Sabhas witnessed a rather peculiar phenomenon: the Sabhas ended with people picking up the khats and making a beeline to their homes, despite repeated pleas by the party leaders and supporters. This has come as godsend opportunity for Rahul Gandhi to lash out at his rivals and reaffirm the pro-poor, left-of-centre credentials of the Indian National Congress. Even party supporters have capitalized on these incidents and have described it as an opportunity to reach out to the framer community.

The Yadav dynasty led by the patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav is a perfect example of a ‘democratic dynasty’. Contrary to middle class perceptions of Indian politics, the Yadav family functions as a modern , political dynasty bereft of any feudal origins. Thus, we have brothers, uncles, nephews, nieces, wives and grand-nephews occupying some public office or managing organizational responsibilities. However, even democratic dynasties have not been spared of the conflicts and rivalry associated with feudal dynasties. In this case, with the patriarch getting old there is wider contest between his brother Shivpal Yadav and his son Akhilesh Yadav as to who is the claimant to the political legacy.