The Wire Wrap

Melody and India's Press Freedom Go Abroad

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's five nation tour just days after he urged Indians to adopt austerity measures including not travelling abroad, has been in the headlines for reasons that have little to do with bilateral relations. Press freedom questions in Norway and the Netherlands, and a reel with Italian PM Georgia Meloni have been the major takeaways amid questions of how the Indian economy is coping in the aftermath of the shocks from the West Asia conflict. Meanwhile at home, Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant's remarks comparing unemployed youth to cockroaches and parasites has stirred a controversy, leading the CJI to issue a clarification of sorts. The Wire's senior political correspondent Sravasti Dasgupta is joined by Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty, senior journalist and Ghazala Wahab, author and editor, Force Magazine.

Too Little, Too Late? PM Modi's Austerity Plan Won't Stop The Crisis

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged the citizens of India to adopt some Covid era-like measures in light of the continuing West Asia crisis, including limiting the use of fuel and cooking oil, working from home, avoiding gold purchases and foreign travel, and reducing the usage of chemical fertilisers. Meanwhile across India’s industrial belt, reports of MSMEs freezing production and workers losing their jobs have been coming in. Jahnavi Sen is joined by Dr Himanshu, an economist at Jawaharlal Nehru University, and independent researcher and senior journalist Sukumar Muralidharan to discuss these issues.

A Crisis for Modi's Credibility, and a Crisis for India's Workers

It has been a week now since the Narendra Modi government’s three-Bill push for delimitation and an expanded Lok Sabha has failed, and it’s also today that the first phase in West Bengal and voting in Tamil Nadu are being held. Meanwhile, a large number of people in Noida have been arrested after the workers' protest, and the police and state government appear keen to mask the whole thing as a law and order issue. The Wire's Jahnavi Sen is joined by senior journalist Sanjay Jha and The Wire's Founding Editor M.K. Venu.

Modi-Shah's Push to Change Electoral Map Fails

The Narendra Modi government has failed to pass bills-The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 that sought to increase the strength of the Lok Sabha to 850 and delimitation through its stated objective of operationalising 33% reservation for women. The final vote in the Lok Sabha recorded 298 ‘ayes’ and 230 ‘noes’. There were 528 MPs present and voting. The government needed two-thirds majority to pass the bills, which was 352. It fell short by 54 votes. While the government has blamed the opposition for not bringing in women's reservation, the opposition has hailed victory for stopping "an unconstitutional trick in the name of women." The Wire's Sravasti Dasgupta is joined by Seema Chishti, editor, The Wire and Siddharth Varadarajan.

Who's the Biggest Loser of This War?

US President Donald Trump threatened genocidal action against Iran on Tuesday, recanting it only an hour before the deadline he had imposed to say that Iran’s 10-point peace proposal was “workable”. A two-week ceasefire was agreed upon, which is now on tenuous ground as Israel continues to bomb Lebanon. Meanwhile in India, the names of about 89 lakh voters were deleted from the West Bengal voters list just weeks before the first phase of polling. Jahnavi Sen is joined by senior journalist and commentator Saba Naqvi and The Wire’s Founding Editor Siddharth Varadarajan to talk about these issues.