The abolition of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, the rise in fake news, the upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha elections, and the #MeToo India movement — all currently trending topics — will be discussed at this year’s Bangalore Literature Festival (BLF), scheduled to be held on October 27-28.

Journalist Sandhya Menon, who has been at the forefront of the #MeToo campaign, will be participating. Other participants are still being roped in, said sources.

Author Chetan Bhagat, against whom several women have made allegations of sexual harassment, was one of the probable speakers, but has now confirmed he will not be taking part. “His inability to attend the festival is not connected to the #MeToo movement, but due to a prior engagement. He was ready to address the issue, if he were to participate,” said V. Ravichandar, member of the BLF organising committee.

The upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha elections will be debated at multiple sessions. Congress parliamentarian Shashi Tharoor's book The Paradoxical Prime Minister, on Narendra Modi, will be launched at the festival. At a session on political cartooning, noted cartoonist N. Ponnappa will discuss the medium and threats to freedom of expression.

The festival will conclude with a panel on fake news that will see several journalists, including Pratik Sinha, founder of Alt News, participate. Noted playwright Girish Karnad, who turned 80 this year and published his play Rakshasa Tangadi, will be in conversation with critic C.N. Ramachandran.

A panel on southern poetry with A.R. Venkatachalapathy, Mukund Rao and others from the southern languages is expected to be one of the highlights. This year, the festival will feature a session on science fiction and writing, a first at BLF.

Prominent writers to participate in this year's festival include William Dalrymple, Atish Taseer, Anand Teltumbde, Vivek Shanbhag, K.R. Meera, Benyamin, Ashwin Sanghi, Ramachandra Guha, Gurcharan Das and poet Vijay Seshadri.