Of Movements And Math

On the first day of Parliament’s Monsoon Session, two very different upheavals converged in Delhi. Outside Parliament, young protesters demanding accountability over examination failures faced barricades, detentions and police force. Inside the political establishment, the BJP was pursuing a quieter but equally consequential project: building the numbers needed to reshape India’s constitutional and electoral future. One conflict is being fought through slogans, crowds and public anger. The other through alliances, arithmetic and long-term strategy. Anirban Chowdhury speaks to Jatin Takkar and Pratishtha Bagai to examine the pressures confronting the government and ask whether India’s future will be shaped by the unrest on its streets or the numbers inside Parliament.