In time...

How did this happen?

For one, the BJP tapped into the heterogeneity within OBCS, and leveraged the resentment against dominant OBC groups who are seen as having cornered the benefits that came with reservation and political power. Data shows that intra-obc inequality is real. In Uttar Pradesh for instance, it is by consolidating the non-yadav communities that the BJP has scored three consecutive electoral triumphs — in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls and the 2017 assembly polls. The most tangible manifestation of the BJP seeking to leverage this faultline is the formation of the Commission to Examine Sub-categorisation of Other Backward Classes for OBCS.

But it is not just social engineering. A mix of aggressive welfare delivery to members of these communities, substantive legislative positions to portray the party’s commitment to the subaltern, and the co-option of historical figures integral to identity of specific backward groups into a larger Hindutva pantheon — note Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reference to Suheldev in his speech at Ayodhya — has helped BJP cement its base among this section.

It is not clear if the politics of mandir has decisively prevailed over the politics of Mandal, for social equations can change, inter-caste contradictions can grow, the ability to reconcile these contradictions may not last, and issues of political representation may once again emerge more sharply.

But what is clear is that 30 years later, the politics of mandir and the politics of Mandal have come a full circle in India. against former Air Chief SP Tyagi. A team from the SIT will station itself in Mumbai to begin questioning people connected with the late actor including Rhea Chakraborty, Bollywood producers and others who gave statements after his death or know about the circumstances related to his death, officials familiar with development said.

The decision to hand over the probe to the SIT was taken as CBI’S Special Crimes unit, which usually investigates such cases, has its hands full. “The Special Crimes unit is probing high-profile cases related to the custodial death of the father-son duo of P Jayaraj and J Bennicks in Tamil Nadu in June as well as the suicide of SHO, Vishnudutt Vishnoi in Churu, Rajasthan, on May 23. In the SHO case, CBI had last month questioned Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot’s OSD – Devaram Saini,” an official at the agency said requesting anonymity.

Around eight officials of CBI’S special crimes unit who had gone to investigate Tamil Nadu’s custodial deaths are in quarantine after some of them contracted Covid-19.

CBI is likely to take the help of medical experts from reputed institutions to study the postmortem report of Sushant Singh Rajput, another official at the agency said. If it believes at any stage that Rhea Chakraborty or others are misleading it, the agency may even consider conducting lie-detection tests on them, this officer added, asking not to be named.

KK Singh has alleged that Rhea Chakraborty and his family drove his son to suicide and appropriated his (Rajput’s) assets.

Apart from Rhea Chakraborty and her brother Showik Chakraborty, CBI has named her family members and the manager of Rajput’s house, Samuel Miranda, as accused . The charges are criminal conspiracy, cheating and abetment to suicide.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is separately investigating the case as it suspects there has been money laundering by some suspects. The ED questioned Samuel Miranda on Thursday while Singh’s chartered accountant Sandeep Sridhar was examined on Tuesday.

Rhea Chakraborty has been asked by the ED to appear before it on Friday. Her lawyer Satish Maneshinde said, “The Bihar government transferred a case with which it had no jurisdiction to investigate to CBI instead of the Mumbai Police, which is the legal position. The Supreme Court is seized of the issue pursuant to the transfer petition filed by Rhea Chakraborty. The SC has directed all parties to file their replies and Mumbai Police are directed to place the report of investigations.”

“Pending the said proceedings, the CBI has registered and continued the illegality which was perpetrated at the hands of Bihar Police. CBI being a premier investigative agency in the country should desist from taking any further steps pending the SC proceedings. Apart from the same unless the Maharashtra Government consents to CBI investigating the case... it would be totally illegal and beyond any known legal principles, affecting the federal structure of the nation.”

The underlying theme of the plan “is the preservation of the soundness of the Indian banking sector,” Das said separately.

Banks have been struggling with stagnating credit growth to revive the economy, which is set for its first annual contraction in more than four decades.

The decision to slow forbearance differs from Australia -where policy makers granted hard-pressed borrowers a further four months before they must repay their loans -- and China, which extended some relief through March 2021.

“It is good that the RBI didn’t extend the moratorium because it was purely kicking the can down the road,” news agency PTI quoted Ananth Narayan, a professor of finance at SP Jain Institute of Management and Research and regional head of financial markets for South Asia at Standard Chartered Plc as saying.

“With restructuring, disclosures from banks and financial institutions will improve dramatically. The RBI is trying to give relief, at the same time make sure the package is credible and is not seen as dilution of norms,” he added.

While economic activity started to recover from the lows of April-may, a surge in fresh infections forced several states to return to lockdowns, the governor said during the RBI press briefing.

The MPC sees upside risks to food prices and elevated headline inflation during July-september, which would ease in the second half of 2020-21 fiscal, and forecasts a contraction in real GDP growth for April 2020 to March 2021 fiscal, the central bank head added.

Former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan, speaking at an event in Mumbai on Thursday, called on policymakers to focus on protecting the economy instead of being overly focused on what ratings agencies think.

“It is also important to convince both domestic and international investors that after the crisis associated with the pandemic is over, we will return to fiscal responsibility over the medium term, and the government should do more to convince them of that,” Rajan told the Global Markets Forum.

“The RBI and government have certainly been cooperating, but it seems like it is elsewhere, the ball is in the government’s court to do more,” he added.