Cockroaches to censorship, take-down time, section 69A, young people ridiculed as a national security issue, data centres in Hyderabad or illegal land acquisition — attending a riveting conversation at IIC reviewing the Draft Digital Content Rules. Plenty of food for thought
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On I-PAC: "I-PAC was basically supporting with data whatever the TMC's Abhishek wanted to conclude. I think its role and impact were limited:" Jayanta Roy Chowdhury
"I disagree about their not having an impact - I believe I-PAC hollowed out the party, sitting in Abhishek's office:" Bharat Bhushan
"BJP and RSS have virtually unpaid service delivery agents on the ground, via their party cadres:" Madhavan
@JRoy_1978@Madversity@IndianPAC
"I like to call Vijay neo-Dravidian. He's secular, he appeals to a new generation of voters in the changing peoplescape of Tamil Nadu. TN is not in the third world, at least aspirationally. TN has 85 mn people, 90% wireless subscription, Sundar Pichai and Aravind Srinivas are icons for Tamilians. Youngsters want to give new faces a chance, as they did in other nation like Ukraine:" Madhavan Narayanan @madversity
#TMFDialogues
"Election after assembly election is reflecting alacrity for rejecting, not selecting. Bengal was about rejecting TMC, more than about selecting BJP. TN was more about rejecting DMK.
"Then, the BJP is managing to distract the opposition with the red herring of intra-elite conflict between regional and national elites, including with SIR, but those may not have been issues for the masses. BJP would probably have won Bengal even without SIR, though with a thin margin.
"And finally, why is anti-incumbency not affecting BJP as much as other parties? Does BJP indeed slightly improve services when in power?" Dr Ajay Gudavarthy, CPS, JNU @JNU_official_50
SIR and electoral malpractice is not a massive people issue, something that will trigger Nepal like on ground action. This is more like BJP's red herring for the Opposition, keep them busy. To turn this into any impact at all, the Oppositon needs to turn this into an issue that the people can relate to: Ajay Gudavarthy
"West Bengal results were no surprise to us, no surprise in the BJP war room, no surprise to anyone who really had the pulse of Bengal. The journalists were clearly not part of that lot! they didn't do a great job. INC is down, but not out. They're ruling four states. The communists are down and out - zero states now! the only ideology based party, and with no dynasts, but they're still out."
Seshadri Chari, political analyst, RSS ideologue, to moderator Bharat Bhushan, kicking off the #TMFDialogues by the Media Foundation and IIC Delhi.
@seshadrichari@madversity@jigeesham@Bharatitis@IIC_Delhi
"Like the INC which Mr Chari said is down but not out, TMC is down but not out. And it IS ideology based. It does have supporters on the ground. Mamata has the ability to reinvent herself, be the phoenix.
"And I don't agree about the 'death of the Left'. They have ideology, cadre. The INC though has no leaders left in WB. Rahul Gandhi was nowhere in WB during the campaign:" Jayanta Roy Chowdhury @JRoy_1978 editor @UNIindianews
#TMFDialogues
I am due to join @FreeMedia_In Foundation dialogue on politics after recent assembly polls. Assuming #TamilNadu developments do not throw one off track.
Join us for a Media Dialogue on
‘Assembly Poll Results and the Politics Ahead’
Panelists: Dr Ajay Gudavarthy, Vasudha Venugopal, Seshadri Chari, Jomy Thomas and Jayanta Roy Chowdhury.
Moderator: Bharat Bhushan.
On Sat, 9 May at 6.30 PM @IIC_Delhi
Details here👇
Six press organizations gathered at the Press Club of India on April 11 to demand the unconditional withdrawal of the Draft IT (Intermediary Guidelines & Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules 2026.
The rules create a chilling effect on press freedom, threaten independent creators & expand unchecked censorship powers.
Key demands:—
✅ Withdraw Rule 3(4) executive censorship powers
✅ Stop the 3-hour takedown diktat
✅ Halt the illegal Sahyog portal
✅ Consult journalists BEFORE drafting such laws
#PressFreedom #ITRules2026 #FreeSpeech