This week, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Raman Kirpal, and Shardool Katyayan are joined by journalist Monideepa Banerjie and agricultural policy expert Devinder Sharma. On the situation in West Bengal’s Sandeshkhali, Monideepa gives a timeline of what happened. She explains that after being accused of exploiting local women, TMC leader Shahjahan Sheikh has been absconding for the last 50 days and hasn’t returned to the village. Shardool says, “It is the BJP that has shown why it is important to have a strong opposition.” The panel then discusses the farmers’ demand for a minimum support price guarantee for agricultural produce. Citing data, Devinder says farmers are facing the “crisis of survival” as the average income from farming in India is Rs 27 per day. Abhinandan says many well-to-do farmers in Punjab support their lifestyle from other businesses as farming remains unprofitable. This and a lot more. Tune in! We have a page for subscribers to send letters to our shows. If you want to write to Hafta, click here.  Check out the Newslaundry store and flaunt your love for independent media.  Download the Newslaundry app. General elections are around the corner, and Newslaundry and The News Minute have ambitious plans. Click here to support us. Timecodes 00:05:20 - Headlines 00:19:00 - Sandeshkhali 00:48:15 - Farmers’ protests 01:32:44 - Letters 01:57:42 - Recommendations Hafta letters, recommendations, songs and references Check out our previous Hafta recommendations. Produced and recorded by Aryan Mahtta, edited by Hassan Bilal. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.