00:00It's not rare when you find authors like Rashid Gidwai at festivals like this one,
00:05at Banaras Literature Festival, the third edition.
00:08Mr. Gidwai, thank you so much for speaking to One India.
00:10First things first, your book, Ballot, 10 episodes that have shaped India's democracy.
00:15There are two words that need a lot of attention, democracy and ballot.
00:19They are very relevant these days.
00:20How do you see them?
00:21How important they are?
00:23I think they are integral part of our democratic setup.
00:26And though the ballot has now become a kind of EVM machine one,
00:30but still it remains the same.
00:32And I think this is the biggest sort of strength to our political system
00:36that everybody, regardless of the caste, creed, region you come from, they have a right to vote.
00:42And Indian voter is giving a mandate that always surprises.
00:47So whether it does not go, we all see in several elections, we have seen,
00:52and this is what I have tried to document in this book, the 10 episodes,
00:55which were the 10 episodes, like rise of Mayawati, rise of, you know, N.T. Ramarao,
01:02the persona of Balasaheb Thackeray as a sort of supreme ballot.
01:07I have written there is no superpower, there was no superstar in Bollywood, in Mumbai,
01:12so to say, it was Balasaheb Thackeray.
01:15In that kind of respect, he commanded it once upon a time.
01:18Absolutely.
01:19Right from the advent of the third term of Prime Minister Modi,
01:24the word democracy found its resonance,
01:27not very surprisingly within the chambers of the Indian parliament as well.
01:31Rahul Gandhi was seen raking up and actually mentioning democracy and constitution quite a lot
01:38and return to ballot papers also.
01:41How do you see that?
01:42So, you see, this is a point of view.
01:44And I think this is, again, what you basically said,
01:47that in democracy, the beauty of the system is that you can also question that system.
01:53Like, because of the, let's say, EVM, Rahul Gandhi is there in Lok Sabha,
01:57but in that Lok Sabha, he is questioning the EVM.
02:00Right.
02:01So, this is a real, whether, you know, it is justified or not, it's a matter of opinion.
02:06Right.
02:06See, somebody's verdict of 49 and 51, like at this present 18th Lok Sabha,
02:12has 53 percent, you know, MPs belonging to the ruling coalition
02:17and 47 percent belonging to the opposition.
02:20I mean, those who are not in the ruling coalition.
02:22So, what I'm saying is, this is a, you know, beautiful system.
02:25That if you have 100 people, assuming 53 are for Mr. Modi and 47 are not for him.
02:31Right.
02:31So, this gives a kind of, you know, check and balances.
02:34And I think that's a real strength of our democracy.
02:36Absolutely.
02:37That is very aptly put.
02:38I would say one final question.
02:40I know you have a busy schedule here this evening.
02:42Your previous book, Bharat Ke Pradhan Mantri.
02:44I have been the proud reader of that book.
02:47My kids also go through that.
05:10I don't know about cricket.
05:12No, sir. Absolutely.
05:13But, you know, in our country, cricket, politics and film is a kind of a drink.
05:18But, this Lidfest is also a kind of a drink.
05:20And I would like to thank Aizobo for this.
05:23Because, under the same roof, they have created such a great atmosphere.
05:27And more than the atmosphere, it's not like they are connected to any ideology or any person.
05:32In fact, like I said, our culture is that of an argumentative Indian.
05:38I mean, we used to argue with each other.
05:40And we used to debate with each other.
05:42With that same feeling, I saw that a very beautiful arrangement has been made here.
05:46Absolutely.
05:47The way Mr. Rashid mentioned those things that are in front of our eyes, we couldn't see it.
05:52Wherever Ravi goes, the poetic thing is there.
05:55Mr. Rashid, thank you very much for this interview.
05:57We wish you all the very best.
05:58And we thank you for watching this broadcast.
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