- 8 hours ago
This conversation dives into Bengal’s political earthquake, the disconnect between elite political commentary and ground reality, BJP’s rise in the East, Himanta and Suvendu’s hardline politics, the Vijay phenomenon in Tamil Nadu.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Hey Mantho, I have just posted a photo today
00:02Two guys, two different types of photos
00:04What is the problem?
00:05Not pool
00:06The share is about pool
00:08But what is the problem?
00:09Where is the problem?
00:11Where is the problem?
00:12Who will win?
00:13Fool is an F double O
00:15Now it's your choice
00:16Then he gets up and introduces Vijay as one of his
00:21They both went to the same college
00:22And he introduces the new CM of the state as his college mate
00:26And that Vijay should remember that he may be senior
00:31But except in politics, DNK is a much senior party
00:34And that he should listen to DNK's advice
00:36A movie hero who goes on to become the chief minister of the state
00:39Tamil Nadu has a problem with icons
00:44MGR
00:45Followed by Karuna Nidhi
00:47Followed by Jail Alita
00:49Followed by Karuna Nidhi
00:51Son, Stalin
00:52All these people are from the film industry
00:56The biggest star Rajini Khan
00:58If he had announced any day
01:01Say after Jail Alita's demise
01:03That I am forming a political party
01:06I will be the chief minister of Tamil Nadu
01:09Come and wrote me
01:10I will go alone
01:11He would have been
01:13But he did not have the courage
01:15To antagonize anyone
01:17To antagonize DNK
01:19Or antagonize the powers in centre
01:21Like Congress and BJP
01:22Why do you think
01:23In the North
01:24The same sort of model doesn't work?
01:26I think the only Amta Bachchan temple that exists
01:28Does not exist in North India
01:30I don't think they have announced
01:32Their next finance minister yet
01:34But there is some
01:35A lot of Bengalis on Twitter at least
01:39Are excited about the prospect of having somebody like
01:41Sanjeev Sanyal
01:42Sanjeev Sanyal
01:43Sanjeev Sanyal
01:44Non-Bengal Bengali forces
01:46Will never get a grip of Bengali
01:49Ever
01:50I support that
01:52So that left
01:53Was part of their identity
01:56They were not just Bengalis
01:59They were
01:59They were the Bhadralok
02:01That we are the people who will never ever succumb to the saffron wave
02:07The people of West Bengal
02:09Tired of 15 years of mistool
02:11Syndicate Raj
02:12Corruption
02:13And the TMC's special talent
02:15For making political violence feel like a cultural tradition
02:18Went and did the unspeakable
02:21They chose an alternative
02:23And Bengal celebrated
02:26That is when
02:27That is what the non-resident Bengali
02:30Has not been able to process
02:32The image that will not leave
02:33The affront that no amount of Gramsci
02:35Can soothe
02:37These are
02:39Very memorable lines
02:41From a very viral news
02:43Opinion piece
02:44Written by none other than our Tao
02:46Mr. Kamlesh Kishore Shing
02:50And we are sitting here
02:51With Tao for the first time
02:53On Mo
02:54Trying to sort of get to the bottom of what he meant
02:58When he wrote this piece
02:59The piece
02:59I'll share the link of the piece in the description
03:02Basically if you haven't read it
03:03It kind of sums up
03:05The sort of discontent
03:06That some sections of the Bengali intelligence feel
03:10With the BJP having come to power in Kolkata
03:14In Kolkata
03:15So Tao
03:16Tell me
03:18What inspired you to write this piece
03:20And
03:21There is a lot of confusion
03:23About whether this is a takedown
03:25Of the Bengal Antel class
03:27Or is it
03:30An objective analysis
03:32Of the reason
03:34That the BJP came to power
03:36So quietly almost
03:37Because none of us
03:39Had predicted
03:39A win of that scale
03:42Hmm
03:43See it's a satirical piece
03:45And a satire comes out of some truth
03:50So take it with a
03:51With not a pinch of salt
03:53But
03:54Generous helping of salt
03:55It's not about the non-resident Bengalis
03:59It is just some of them
04:01Who are very vocal
04:03Who
04:05Who are very successful in their
04:07In whatever they do
04:09But
04:10They also wore this Bengali identity
04:13They don't want to sound parochial
04:17Regionalist
04:17You know
04:18Or
04:19Sort of
04:20Want to show some kind of supremacy
04:23Because they are evolved
04:24Intellectual people
04:26So instead of
04:27Saying it overtly
04:30They
04:31They wore this thing
04:32That okay
04:33We are all equal
04:34But we are
04:35I am
04:35A bit more equal than you
04:37Because
04:39I am from a state
04:40That has already gone through the renaissance
04:43The state
04:44That
04:46Has sort of monopoly over art
04:48And culture
04:49Whatever
04:49What you call it
04:50And
04:52That
04:53We do not
04:54Elect
04:56BJP
04:58This
04:59Was
04:59You know
05:00This
05:01Because BJP is seen as a nationalist
05:03And
05:05Hindu party
05:06Hindu
05:06Party
05:08They had shifted from
05:09Hardcore
05:10Communists
05:11To
05:12To a soft communism
05:13Bala
05:14Buddha
05:14Battacharya
05:15And then to
05:16Mamda Banerjee
05:17Who is hard left
05:20So that
05:21Left
05:22Was
05:23Part of their identity
05:26They were not just Bengali
05:28They were
05:29They were the
05:30Bhadra Lok
05:32The
05:32Creme de la creme
05:33Of Kolkata
05:35By the way
05:35This is
05:37Kolkata
05:38Bengalis
05:38Who migrated
05:39Out of Kolkata
05:40Because Kolkata
05:41Did not have opportunities
05:43But to distinguish themselves
05:44From
05:45Others in the crowd
05:47In large cities
05:48Like Mumbai
05:48Delhi
05:49Bangalore
05:49Hyderabad
05:52They made this their identity
05:54That
05:55We are the people
05:56Who will never
05:57Ever succumb
05:58To the
05:59Saffron
06:00Wave
06:00Even if it's a tsunami
06:02We will
06:02Stand upright
06:05But they were ditched
06:06By their own people
06:08So you are saying that the peace was
06:10This is what the peace
06:12Was about
06:13Why do you think there is such a big divorce between
06:16People like them and the rest of Bengal
06:19Who seems to have voted for BJP
06:23Completely gone BJP's way
06:25This time
06:27They had gone BJP's way
06:30Even the last time
06:32That's how BJP from 3
06:33Went to 77
06:36And
06:37But there was this spectre of
06:41Incoming violence
06:43People had this fear
06:46Same arrangements were made last time
06:48Not with such intensity and quantity
06:51But
06:52Arrangements were made to protect them
06:54But
06:55The
06:55The aftermath of the election
06:57Showed that
07:00It is a very different state
07:02That there is retribution
07:04Soon after the elections
07:06Because
07:07Of course
07:09Voters know each other
07:10They know
07:11You know
07:12In which booth
07:13BJP was supported
07:15And then
07:16That's something that
07:18This time
07:19The administration took care of
07:22It was quite controversial
07:24The sheer number of central forces deployed
07:27Yeah
07:27The repeated assurance
07:29Or assertion
07:31By the Home Minister of India
07:32That they will remain there
07:3460 days after the polling ends
07:37That gave people confidence
07:39That gave people confidence
07:40Then religious polarization
07:41And all that
07:42Right
07:42But the divorce that you are talking about
07:44Is that
07:46See
07:49Hunger
07:50Is a great equalizer
07:54Hunger was never out of fashion
07:57Just that
07:58When
07:58Bengali
08:00The common Bengali
08:02Lower middle class
08:03And then
08:04Down
08:05Had to
08:06Travel to other states
08:08For bread and butter
08:10For families
08:10Survival
08:11They also saw
08:13They also saw that
08:15Large parts of the country
08:16Have changed
08:17In the last
08:18Two decades
08:21Or three
08:22If you
08:22Will
08:25See
08:26That change
08:26That change
08:27Was not visible
08:27In Bengal
08:29I am sure
08:30You have
08:32Passed
08:32Through areas
08:33In rural Bengal
08:33The pace
08:35Of change
08:35Has been
08:37Very slow
08:39Unlike
08:39The rest of India
08:41In the last
08:41Three decades
08:43Plus
08:45All the cities
08:46In India
08:46If you see
08:47If you just compare them
08:48To 20 years ago
08:50Like
08:50At the beginning of the century
08:53You will realize
08:54They have changed
08:55Dramatically
08:56Even tier 2 cities
08:57In this country
08:58While
08:59In Bengal
08:59The
09:00Showpiece
09:02Showpiece
09:03Kolkata
09:04Has
09:05Declined
09:06Isn't it
09:07It shows
09:08Signs of
09:08Decay
09:10I am not saying
09:11Nothing has changed
09:12So I come from
09:13Siligudi
09:13So I think
09:15Siligudi
09:16Is one of the more
09:17Important
09:17Cities
09:18The most important
09:19City in North Bengal
09:20In fact
09:21And growing
09:21And absolutely growing
09:23So of course
09:24The urban infrastructure
09:26In that city
09:27Is as bad
09:28As any other city
09:29In Bengal
09:29Or India for that matter
09:31But what that city
09:32Kind of has seen
09:33Over the past decade
09:34Or so
09:35Is massive infrastructure
09:36Push in terms of
09:37Big ticket
09:38That is how
09:39That is
09:41Controversy
09:41Even if it's controversial
09:42I think that is like
09:43More of a BJP's
09:45Reading of the situation
09:47The critics
09:48Will basically
09:49Paint the narrative
09:50That there was
09:51Tremendous psyops
09:52That happened
09:52Ahead of the elections
09:53With Home Minister
09:54And what he said
09:55The visuals of
09:57Those Central Armed Forces
09:58Heading into Bengal
09:59Some of them
10:00Even stopped in Ayodhya
10:01You know
10:02They went to the
10:03Temple
10:04It was almost like
10:05You know
10:06Udghosh
10:06I don't know
10:07Whether Udghosh is the right word
10:08Or Akram
10:09There is some
10:10Political battle
10:11About to take place
10:12And
10:14And those things
10:15You mentioned about
10:16The Home Minister
10:17Saying that
10:17The Central Forces
10:18Are going to stay on
10:19In the state
10:19Even 60 days
10:20After the polling happens
10:21It is almost like
10:22To reassure the troops
10:23On the ground
10:24Not to sort of
10:26You know
10:26Buckle in
10:27And to put up
10:29A brave fight
10:31Which is exactly
10:31What they did
10:32Of course
10:33Psyops is not everything
10:35That went right
10:35For the BJP
10:36This is what a critic
10:37Of the BJP would probably tell you
10:38That
10:39Like the SIR happened
10:40Which
10:42May or may not
10:42Have influenced
10:44But
10:44The later data
10:45Post-Poll data analysis
10:46Has shown in fact
10:47That
10:48The seats where
10:49Maximum voter
10:51You know
10:52Names deleted
10:53TMC actually won those seats
10:57What do you have to say
10:58To the critics
10:58Who still
10:59Are not convinced
11:00That this was
11:02Mamata Banerjee included
11:03Who feel
11:04That this was not
11:05A fair and square win
11:08It does
11:08It did not
11:09Seem to be fair and square
11:11By the way
11:12Even in 2021
11:14And before that
11:15You
11:16I think there was a sense
11:18In the BJP
11:19And the central government
11:20That we need to
11:22Put all our weight
11:24Behind the party
11:25In the state
11:26And
11:27And BJP supporters
11:28Because
11:29It is not fair
11:31In Bengal
11:32So
11:34One was that
11:35Second was
11:35I do not want to
11:37Discuss the SIR
11:40And voter deletion
11:41And all that
11:42Much
11:42Because
11:43I do not
11:46Argue
11:46Against
11:47Matters of faith
11:50Yeah
11:51So
11:52You know
11:52Whether there is God
11:53Or not
11:54Whether the
11:56Holy books
11:57Are correct
11:58Or not
11:58It is a futile exercise
12:00Are you saying that
12:02Because most things were
12:02Disproportionately
12:03It is a belief system
12:05That what was stolen
12:06Now you cannot argue with that
12:08It is a belief system
12:09You should respect their beliefs
12:12Yes
12:13I
12:13I
12:14It
12:14As
12:15I believe
12:15I believe
12:16I mean I may not be right
12:17But this is my belief
12:18That Indian
12:19The Indian election system
12:22Especially after the EVMs
12:23Is impossible to rig
12:25Very difficult to rig
12:27I am not saying that
12:28Nobody can rig it
12:30But I have seen no evidence
12:33So I
12:34This is my belief
12:36It is somebody's belief that
12:38The
12:39SIR
12:41Negatively influenced the election
12:43And
12:44It was not fair and square as you said
12:48I don't believe so
12:49I am not saying it
12:50It is the critics who
12:51Aha
12:51So
12:52I am also a critic
12:56Yes
12:57So all I can do is criticize
12:58Right
12:59Hmm
13:01Not very far
13:03From that state
13:04If you go slightly
13:05More towards the east
13:06You have the state of Assam
13:09Where
13:10Himanta B. Salma
13:11Has swept in
13:11With a fresh mandate
13:14An overwhelming mandate
13:17And
13:17The two of them
13:19Shubindu Adhikari
13:20The Bengals CM pick
13:21And
13:23Himanto
13:23Have just posted a photo today
13:26Yes
13:26The two of them
13:28The two of them
13:28So
13:30Again
13:30Playing the devil's advocate
13:32The critics are saying
13:33That it is a dog whistle
13:34Once again
13:35That both of them
13:36Now Himanta was already targeting
13:38The so called illegal migrant
13:41From Bangladesh
13:44In Assam
13:46Do you think
13:47Do you think
13:47That
13:47That particular tweet
13:49Alluded to
13:50Now
13:51Shubindu
13:52Being the CM of Bengal
13:54That he is going to come down hard
13:56On the so called illegal immigrants
13:58From Bangladesh
13:58In West Bengal itself as well
14:01It is easier in Assam
14:03Because
14:05It's
14:06As
14:06The
14:07Illegal immigrants
14:09Speak a different language
14:10It is very difficult in Bengal
14:12I do not think
14:13All this talk that goes on about
14:15Expelling the
14:17Illegal immigrants
14:19Is
14:22Anything but
14:23A slogan
14:24Or
14:25A tool
14:25In elections
14:27My
14:28It's used
14:29It's used to basically
14:30It is just political
14:32To polarize
14:33Yes
14:34Yes
14:34It is useful
14:35During the elections
14:36It helps these BJP politicians
14:37Consolidate Hindu votes
14:39Right
14:40Yes
14:40See Muslims have been
14:43United or bundled together
14:45Or they have huddled together
14:46During elections
14:47Because
14:48They really really fear
14:50The BJP
14:52Because they believe that BJP is an anti-Muslim party
14:55And this fear has been exploited by the oppositions
15:00At TMC
15:00They would
15:01Not necessarily like TMC
15:04To vote TMC
15:06It was just the fear of BJP
15:08So that brought them together
15:11You know
15:12And that togetherness gave them a veto
15:16Okay
15:17Whichever side we are
15:19That side will win
15:21But when
15:22In districts that they are in majority
15:24They don't fear so much
15:27They have the numbers
15:28Numbers make you feel stronger at least
15:31While BJP managed to successfully create this fear among Hindus
15:38That they are in danger
15:41If TMC remains in power
15:43Their sheer existence
15:45Will be in trouble
15:45So this time
15:47This polarization worked for BJP
15:49And did not work for TMC so much
15:51But these are
15:52This Bangladeshi
15:54People living in Bengal
15:56And elsewhere in India
15:59Is a political tool now
16:01Most
16:02I mean even if you
16:03Set out to do this whole
16:05NRC identification thing
16:06And then
16:07Send them back
16:08How many can you?
16:11The estimated number is between 2 to 3 crores
16:15In all your major cities
16:17They live there
16:18And they will become citizens
16:19Naturalized over time
16:21A lot of them
16:22These guys are talking about people who have come in 1971
16:27They are 55 now
16:29You know if somebody was born in 1971
16:32This
16:33I think people should accept the fact that they are here
16:36Now
16:37Can you stop
16:40This illegal
16:42Immigration
16:44Immigration into India
16:45Can you
16:46Stop infiltration
16:48Because
16:49That is attached to national security
16:53In this
16:54Because
16:55SAM and
16:57West Bengal
16:58They share
16:59Huge
16:59Very long border
17:01With Bangladesh
17:02They have
17:04A shared responsibility
17:05To
17:06Prevent
17:06Or at least minimize
17:07Illegal infiltration
17:09If there's
17:10If these 2 chief ministers
17:12Are able to do it
17:13Hemanta has succeeded
17:14To an extent
17:14By creating this
17:15This
17:17Atmosphere of hostility
17:19In his state
17:20You know
17:21It's no longer attractive
17:23To get into a SAM
17:24Because
17:25This guy is
17:27Constantly threatening people
17:29Who come in from Bangladesh
17:30Who have already come 50 years ago
17:32So
17:33West Bengal
17:34Has been
17:35The ideal
17:36Entry point
17:38For Bangladeshi
17:41You know
17:42Infiltrants
17:43So yes
17:46It is possible
17:47It is imperative
17:48That Subendu Adhikari
17:50Works with the central government
17:52To
17:53Prevent
17:54Infiltration into India
17:55Because
17:56You know sometimes people will come
17:59Asim Munir has already declared
18:01That the next time
18:02The attack will come from the east
18:04What do you think
18:05An army is going to come from the east?
18:08It is trained militants
18:10Terrorists
18:10Who will walk into
18:12Your country
18:13And create mayhem
18:14So yes
18:15Whatever the points
18:17The points that exist today
18:19In Bengal
18:21They must be closed
18:23Tight
18:25And
18:26In that
18:28Subendu and Hemanta
18:29Enjoy a certain
18:30Subendu increasingly will try to become like Hemanta
18:33To create this public persona where
18:37He is hard on immigration
18:40Good for them?
18:41Yeah
18:41I think
18:42So
18:43I think
18:44It is very interesting that somebody like Shovindu
18:46Who is also
18:48A later entrant to the BJP
18:49Has two real models
18:51That I think
18:52Lot of us expect him to follow
18:54Which is either the Hemanta model
18:55Or the Yogi model
18:57The interesting thing is
18:58Both
18:58Both leaders are not
19:00From
19:02You know the RSS background
19:04So to say
19:04All three of them are not part of the RSS
19:07Do not have RSS
19:09As the basic origin
19:11Which is very interesting
19:11Do you think enough has been said about
19:13Mr. Shah's role in Bengal
19:15I don't think this victory was possible without him
19:18Mr. Modi did that Jalmuri act
19:20He is also a credible face
19:22Has a personal following
19:23A personal vote bank
19:25You know
19:25There will be 10% people who would vote for Modi
19:28No matter what happens
19:29All that aside
19:30But the hard work
19:32Wins you an election
19:33That was put in by
19:36Amit Shah
19:37Right
19:37He was there from morning
19:39Till
19:41Early morning
19:42Every day
19:43For
19:44I think months
19:45Yeah so it's almost like
19:47This
19:47Symbatic relationship between
19:50You know what you see in AI
19:51Because AI is so much in fashion these days
19:54So you have a chat GPT or a Claude
19:56But what really is powering it
19:58Is an Nvidia chip somewhere
20:00So I think Amit Shah is that Nvidia chip
20:02Yes
20:02Very very
20:03Very premium
20:04Very valuable
20:05Very smart
20:07But
20:08Not every time when you go and you know
20:12Use Claude or GPT
20:14Do you think that there is Nvidia chip powering it
20:16So I have a feeling that maybe not enough has been said and spoken about Mr. Shah's role
20:22In this historic historic victory
20:25And I think this really makes him
20:29If ever there has to be a conversation about
20:31In the true sense
20:33Who after Modi
20:34I think
20:34I don't think there is anybody else right now
20:37With the same sort of pedigree
20:39That Mr. Amit Shah has
20:41Purely based on the electoral victories that he has been able to engineer
20:45Do you agree
20:47I do
20:49I do
20:50He has even as the home minister
20:52He has achieved
20:53He is the de facto number two
20:54He has achieved
20:55The impossible in Kashmir
20:57Absolutely
20:57He has delivered on what he promised
21:01About Naksalites
21:02The Maoist movements in this country
21:06Sooner than anticipated
21:08Yes
21:09Yes
21:09So he if he sets out to achieve something he does everything to get it
21:13But
21:14Then again
21:15The thing is
21:16We
21:19Think
21:20That everything is permanent
21:24We do not know
21:25In the next two years
21:27How politics takes shape in this country
21:30Even in Bengal
21:31The change in government will mean nothing if things do not change on the ground
21:35Because
21:36TMC was
21:38The change
21:39That they were promised
21:41And Mamata did exceptionally well in her first five years
21:45But then the
21:47Ground
21:49She could not change
21:50The systems that the communist governments had put in place
21:54Of
21:56You know extorting
21:57People
21:59Taking toll on roads
22:01Non-government commission
22:03Khori
22:04And what is called cut money
22:06And this whole syndicate thing
22:09She
22:10When she failed to remove
22:12Them
22:13She appropriated them
22:14Her entire
22:15Ground level
22:17Was
22:18Made of people
22:20Who were really really bad in the eyes of the voters
22:24What is the guarantee that the BJP
22:27Will manage to remove them
22:29From their established positions
22:31Far away from Kolkata
22:34Right
22:34Or will they be able to again
22:36Succeed in getting the BJP support
22:39And continuing that
22:40There was a good sign today
22:41That the chief secretary has sent letters to everyone
22:44That there will be no toll collection
22:47Unless there is
22:48It's a government booth
22:49But let's see
22:52Change in government does not
22:53Necessarily guarantee
22:55That the system that has established
22:58Established itself in Bengal for what
23:0150 years
23:02Would so easily change
23:04Yeah it's not going to be easy
23:06But I think
23:06I think BJP is looking at it
23:10From ground up
23:11I don't think they have announced
23:12The next finance minister yet
23:15But there is
23:16A lot of
23:17A lot of Bengalis
23:18On Twitter at least
23:20Are excited about the prospect
23:21Of having somebody like
23:22Sanjeev Sanyal
23:25There
23:25I am not sure
23:26I am not
23:28I am not an expert in economics
23:29But he is certainly
23:30A fairly dynamic
23:31Youngish
23:32Sort of individual
23:33Who has done good work
23:35I am sure
23:36There are many brilliant economists
23:38That come out
23:39Come from Bengal
23:40Who are working abroad
23:42Or in different capacities
23:43What do you think of Ajit Banerjee?
23:46Oh
23:47No sure
23:48Why not?
23:49Really?
23:49Yes
23:50I don't think he sits well with the whole BJP
23:52It does not matter
23:53He is a professional economist
23:54Leave his political views aside
23:56A lot of people
23:57No I mean I think the economics he believes
23:59I mean Amit Mitra
24:01Who was the finance minister in Mamata
24:03When in his government
24:04For a long time
24:04Huh
24:06Subindu Adhikari
24:06He himself is
24:07Subindu is from
24:08TMC
24:09What is the harm in
24:11Asking Mr. Mitra
24:12To join BJP
24:14And remain the finance minister
24:18I mean he will execute what the
24:20I think age is a factor
24:22Yes
24:22With him
24:23Yes
24:23But there are several other
24:26We are
24:26Because you know
24:28We are all journalists
24:29So we are very closely looking at what Mr. Swapandas Gupta does
24:33In his function
24:35And exactly what can the finance minister do in a state where the whole financial system
24:39The fiscal system is broken
24:42You do not necessarily need an economist to become the finance minister of the state
24:48No
24:49No
24:49Where do you see
24:50Where do you see
24:51You know we are
24:52When it comes to Bengal
24:53We just want Sanjeev Sanyal to become the finance minister
24:56No also because
24:56It can be a political leader
24:57The state's exchequer is in the doldrams
24:59The state is really sort of the
25:01Yeah so you need more political will
25:02Because you will have no economic might at all
25:06Yeah
25:06You just need political will to do things that will
25:10Start the recovery
25:12And how do you think the recovery will happen?
25:15By cutting down corruption?
25:17I really do not know
25:18I am not an expert
25:19It's one of those hardest questions one can ask about Bengal
25:22As to how does one sort of start
25:25Even start thinking
25:27Forget about executing a plan
25:28But start making a blueprint of
25:31An economic revival of sorts
25:33You know
25:34I think that is one of the hardest questions
25:36See one of the easiest things people will tell you
25:38Is that industrial revival
25:40Revival of you know
25:41Yeah these are terms that are thrown around
25:43Yes but the point is
25:45People will throw you out if you try
25:47Any stunt like that
25:48Because Bengal is not really pro-industry
25:52Inherently you mean like on the ground
25:54Yeah yeah because
25:56Bengal
25:57I am not too sure about that
25:58A large part of Bengal is
25:59Is a
26:01Very fertile flat land
26:04You know
26:05And then a large part is
26:07Hill
26:08Hilly
26:09The north
26:09Has tea gardens
26:11And hills
26:12If you go to
26:14Jungle Mahal
26:14It's very rich in resources
26:17But
26:18I don't know
26:19How people will take to it
26:21Right
26:21That's the only area open for industrialization
26:23You should not
26:24Go bonkers in acquiring land from people
26:27And then suddenly give
26:28Makdab energy another shot
26:31Like fomenting trouble
26:34But there are there will be ways
26:35I think service industry
26:39Is one option
26:41And there are industries that
26:43There are
26:44May not
26:45May not need flat land
26:45In
26:46In Calcutta itself
26:47There are
26:48Fairly sort of
26:51Lots of IT companies already there
26:53And they have been there for decades now
26:55Haan
26:55You just start painting Kolkata
26:59Just a coat of paint
27:01In most of the
27:03You know
27:03Older parts of Kolkata will change
27:07Kolkata looks
27:10So
27:12Dead
27:13Because
27:14I don't think some houses have
27:15Been painted
27:16In a century
27:17Yeah
27:18You are talking about
27:19North
27:20North Kolkata
27:20Pretty much
27:22Yes
27:23Older houses
27:24Older houses
27:25But they will also look beautiful
27:26And clean is planet
27:27Yeah
27:28You know
27:28I know the hawkers have a
27:31Livelihood and all that
27:32Give them
27:33Places where they can
27:35Sell their wares
27:37But
27:37You know that whole
27:38The desperate front
27:39Will look beautiful
27:40Yes
27:42Now
27:42Now that you've discussed
27:43Bengal
27:44Little bit of a Sam
27:47Kerala
27:48It's too early again
27:49Because congress is stuck
27:51Yet again
27:51They haven't been able to
27:53Consensus
27:54As to who the next CM
27:55Is going to be
27:56Everybody has been saying
27:57For the last one week or so
27:59Ever since the
27:59Votes were counted
28:00That
28:01Because
28:02Of
28:03KCP Nukopal's access
28:04With Rahul Gandhi
28:05And the fact that he had
28:06Fair amount of say
28:07In ticket distribution
28:08Apparently he is among
28:09The front runners
28:10But there is no word out
28:11As we speak
28:12We don't know who the next
28:13Chief Minister of Kerala
28:14Going to be
28:15But tell us the more
28:16Fascinating
28:18Political story that played out
28:19And I think
28:20We haven't seen something like this
28:21At least
28:21In my generation
28:23Because MGR
28:25Was before
28:26Before me
28:27MGR, NTR
28:29Tell us
28:29What
28:30What do you make of
28:31The whole Vijay phenomenon
28:32I mean
28:33I know both of us are from
28:35Northern India
28:36At least we work in Northern India
28:38And we don't
28:38I am not very familiar with
28:40What happens
28:40In Tamil Nadu
28:42But this
28:43Extraordinary story
28:44Of
28:45A cinema
28:45Of
28:46You know
28:47A movie hero
28:48Who goes on to become
28:49The chief minister of the state
28:51How do you look at it
28:55Tamil Nadu has a
28:56Problem with
28:59Icons
29:00Yeah
29:01You call it problem
29:01Some people say
29:03They have a legacy
29:04Or you know
29:05They have a tradition
29:05Yes because
29:06You had an iconoclast
29:08Classed as
29:09Your chief
29:11Mentor
29:13Ideologically
29:13You referring to Periyar
29:15Yes
29:16So
29:17He demolished all the icons
29:21And
29:21Suddenly there was vacuum
29:23And nature
29:23Abhors vacuum
29:25So you had
29:27MGR
29:28Followed by
29:29Karunanidhi
29:30Followed by
29:31Jayalalitha
29:32Followed by
29:33Karunanidhi
29:34Son
29:34Stalin
29:35All these people
29:37Are
29:37From the
29:38Film industry
29:39So
29:40Film industry
29:41Provided leadership
29:42To the people
29:46The biggest star
29:47Rajini Kant
29:49If he had
29:50Announced
29:52Any day
29:54Say
29:54After Jayalalitha's
29:55Demise
29:56That
29:57I am forming a political party
30:00I will be the chief minister of
30:02Tamil Nadu
30:03Come and vote me
30:05I will go alone
30:08He would have been
30:09But he did not have the courage
30:12To antagonize anyone
30:15To antagonize
30:16DNK
30:17Or antagonize
30:18The powers in center
30:19Like Congress
30:20And BJP
30:21He wanted
30:23People's approval
30:25So when
30:26Say a party sent him feelers
30:28That come join us
30:29He would be like
30:30Oh if I do this
30:31Then they will get angry
30:32He
30:33You know
30:35He never gathered the courage
30:36He dabbled in politics
30:37He dipped his toe
30:39Caught out
30:40And came out
30:43Kamal Hasan
30:45Not only dipped his toe
30:47He went in
30:48But he went in with
30:50Support from others
30:51Okay
30:52Do you like me
30:53He had
30:54This
30:58He had this
30:59Heditation
31:02In
31:02Going solo
31:04He is also
31:05Not as popular
31:06As Rajni Kanth
31:07But he is quite popular
31:09Vijay Kanth and others have done it
31:11But they have always done it
31:12In alliance with somebody
31:13Right
31:15Apparently the timing was also not perfect
31:16When it comes to Vijay Kanth
31:18Vijay
31:20Did the smart thing
31:21The current Vijay
31:23He did the smart thing
31:25He said
31:25I will
31:26Be the chief minister of Tamil Nadu
31:30You vote for me
31:32And his fan club
31:33In a year or so
31:36The ground was set
31:38If he had said that
31:40I am
31:41Fighting the election
31:42With ADMK
31:43Or DMK
31:45He would have ended up like Kamal Hasan
31:48That is the best move he did
31:49So but
31:51You know
31:51Fortune favors the brave
31:53He was brave enough to do this
31:56People need
31:57People were looking for an alternative
31:59Because Tamil Nadu state
32:00Is a state that changes
32:03Its government every five years
32:04Yeah
32:06But unfortunately after Jalilta's demise
32:10They could not
32:11The second poll had sort of caved in
32:13Yeah
32:14They did not trust EPS or OPS
32:16Enough
32:17To run this state
32:21They found
32:22Vijay
32:23Saying okay finally
32:24We have a number
32:24Ten years later
32:25But we have an alternative
32:26Just vote him in
32:29Large numbers
32:30He got
32:32He was short of some ten seats
32:34No
32:35Yeah
32:35Ten twelve seats
32:38That was his struggle
32:40That was his struggle
32:41But he is now
32:42Of the cheapness
32:43I don't
32:43I found
32:44I did not find this phenomenal
32:48If you
32:50If your gods
32:53Were
32:53If you are told
32:55That your gods
32:56Are false
32:58Do not worship them
33:00You will
33:02Out of habit
33:03Look for gods to worship
33:04You will find new ones
33:06You will find new ones
33:07So MGR
33:08Jalilita
33:08Rajnikant
33:10And
33:10Vijay
33:13Fascinating
33:13Also
33:14Going back to what you said
33:15About these fan groups
33:17Fanning out
33:17Across the state
33:18Helps
33:18It's almost like a cadder based party
33:20Because
33:21Purely on the strength of the fan groups
33:23Right
33:24And their reach
33:24Across the state
33:26One of the questions
33:28That I don't think has been explored
33:29Or
33:29Been asked
33:30As many times
33:31As probably
33:32It needs to be asked
33:33Which is
33:33Why don't actors
33:35In the north
33:37Follow this model
33:40Here
33:40In the north we see
33:41Actors
33:42Who have
33:43Any sort of political ambition
33:44Become
33:45Supplicants
33:46To whoever is in
33:48You know
33:48The political master
33:50Of the time
33:50Yes, the great Amita Bachchan
33:51Amita Bachchan
33:52Complete supplicant
33:53In front of Rajiv
33:54Who I think
33:55Or Mulaim Singh
33:56Yeah
33:57Or Mulaim Singh
33:58Later
33:58Now with his wife
34:00You see people
34:01Characters from UP
34:02And Bihar
34:03Who
34:03Some have fought elections
34:05In Uttar Pradesh
34:06And they
34:07You have Manoj Tiwari
34:08And you should just see
34:10They
34:11They have had relatively
34:12Successful political careers
34:13Because they have won
34:14A few elections
34:15Here and there
34:16But just
34:17The persona in front
34:18Of the real serious
34:19Politician
34:20They are complete supplicant
34:22Which is
34:22Something very opposite
34:24To what we get to see
34:25In Tamil Nadu
34:27Why do you think
34:28In the north
34:29The same sort of model
34:30Doesn't work
34:30I once
34:32I again
34:33Go back to
34:33My earlier point
34:35You go back to
34:36Periyar again
34:36No
34:38See
34:38India is a deeply
34:40Religious country
34:41You know
34:42You know
34:42It's not a rational society
34:45To them
34:46If you remove their gods
34:48They will look for gods
34:50In the north
34:51Actors or big stars
34:53Or successful celebrities
34:55Are treated as celebrities
34:56Not as gods
34:57Because they have got their gods
34:59To worship
35:01One cultural gap
35:03That was created
35:04In a deeply
35:05Religious society
35:06Like
35:06Tamil Nadu
35:08Was to
35:09Create
35:10A disaffection
35:11To established
35:12Religion
35:13Religions
35:17So Amitabh Bachchan is not god
35:20In fact
35:20I think
35:21The only Amitabh Bachchan temple
35:23That exists
35:23Does not exist in north India
35:25I really don't know
35:26Really
35:27I haven't got any update on that
35:28But
35:29Let us see
35:30What happens is
35:33Our icons
35:37Are
35:38Sort of
35:40Stepney
35:41You know
35:43The spare wheel
35:44The spare wheel
35:45That is visible from outside
35:48You know
35:49To this large SUV
35:50That's all
35:52It adds to the length
35:54Of the SUV
35:55And macho-ness of the SUV
35:57But it's not the SUV
35:58It does not drive
35:59The spare tire
36:01Is critical
36:02For a long journey
36:04But you
36:05The spare tire
36:07Must never believe
36:07That it can
36:08Power the vehicle
36:09Power the vehicle
36:11All the stars
36:12All the stars join politics
36:13Thinking that okay
36:14I will be powering this vehicle
36:15But soon realize that no
36:17I am not
36:18North
36:18In North
36:19You don't think
36:20There will be
36:21There will be one or two exceptions
36:25Of course
36:25But
36:25We have better actors
36:27In our politicians
36:30In North
36:30You mean
36:31Tamil Nadu is a very different society
36:35That way
36:36That way
36:36I think
36:36If somebody needs to challenge Vijay
36:39It will be from the film fraternity
36:41And his current challenge is Udayaniti Stalin
36:44Who is a film star
36:47In his own right
36:49Not as big as Vijay
36:51But he is a film star
36:52One of the videos that really crossed 10 million views on more
36:56And you should check it out if you haven't
36:59Is when
36:59I think this is the first year of these
37:02I think after the swearing in happened in the Tamil Nadu assembly
37:05And Udayaniti gets up and introduces Vijay as one of his
37:10They both went to the same college
37:12And he introduces the new CM of the state as his college mate
37:16And that Vijay should remember that he may be senior
37:21But except in politics DNK is a much senior party
37:24And that he should listen to DNK's advice
37:26So it was a very conciliatory sort of speech
37:28Very warm
37:29And you should check all the comments that came into that video
37:32It was all about how parliament should look like this
37:35And how you know
37:36That sense of good will in Bonomi
37:38Yes, yes
37:39Stalin himself was very conciliatory
37:41In fact some parties
37:42These small parties joined Vijay or supported Vijay
37:46After Stalin's permission
37:47Yeah
37:48Their only
37:49The beef with the Congress is that Congress allowed
37:53Announced this without seeking DMK's permission
37:56But other parties sought DMK's permission
37:58And then join hands with Vijay
37:59Right
38:00Even with the Congress I think the DMK
38:03When it truly understands
38:05I mean politics is like
38:07Is
38:08You know it's not a relationship between
38:12Two people right
38:13Like
38:14A political party will do what is in its best interest
38:16Of course the whole idea about
38:18How ethical
38:19How ethically
38:20It was done
38:21That the DMK was not insulted before
38:24The Congress switched sides
38:27I think that is a story that
38:28That is you know
38:29We don't know
38:31We haven't heard the full story yet
38:33I feel
38:35I mean
38:36I mean yes
38:36You are right
38:38We do not know
38:38But
38:39DMK publicly said that they were not
38:41DMK's spokesperson
38:42So we
38:43Yeah
38:43So we believe them
38:44And nobody in Congress said that we did consult them or anything
38:48But Congress did the right thing
38:51It's very clear the mandate
38:53Was for Vijay
38:54They are looking at 29
38:552029 also
38:57Yes
38:57And it was for Vijay
38:59And it was time that the
39:01That the Congress
39:02Found a new partner in Tamil Nadu
39:04Because
39:05DMK
39:06Would not give them what they want
39:09Even the last time
39:11They wanted certain number of seats
39:13DMK said nothing doing
39:14You can go alone
39:15Because Congress
39:15Actually does not have any
39:18Much following
39:19Yeah
39:19There are
39:20Couple of pockets
39:22That's it
39:23So
39:23They had only one option
39:26Because they could not go with ADMK
39:28Which is
39:28With BJP
39:29Okay
39:30Is considered an NDA partner
39:32Okay so
39:33So to sort of close this conversation
39:35Is there
39:35Is there a
39:36Is there any
39:37Larger big picture lessons
39:38To draw from what we saw
39:40In these
39:41Diverse
39:42Elections in diverse states
39:43You know
39:44One in the east
39:45One down south
39:46Two down south
39:46Three in fact
39:48If you can put the cherry as well
39:50Is there any lesson
39:51That India
39:52Can
39:53Can go home
39:54With what is the take away
39:55From what we saw
39:57See the take away
39:58Is that we often
39:59Get very respondent
40:01And
40:02Are anxious about
40:04The democracy that we have
40:06We often see things written in
40:08You know
40:09In columns
40:10Here and there about
40:12How
40:12Democracy is weakening
40:14But
40:15This election
40:16Should give you hope
40:17That out of
40:18Five states
40:19That went to polls
40:20Including Puducheri
40:22Three
40:24Decided to overthrow
40:26Their governments
40:28The opposition won
40:30Only in Assam
40:31And Puducheri
40:33The government managed to stay
40:36The ruling party
40:37The ruling party
40:38Could
40:39Convince
40:40The people
40:41That
40:42To vote them again
40:43Vote them in
40:44While in Bengal
40:46Kerala
40:47And Tamil Nadu
40:48People decided to let the government go
40:51Yeah
40:51It just so happens that
40:53It is easier for
40:55It almost appears as if
40:56It is easier for
40:57A BJP governed state
41:00To vote the same party back to power
41:02And if it's a non-BJP state
41:04In power in any state
41:06The next time they go into polls
41:08Most likely they will lose
41:09At least that's been the track record in the last
41:11In the past few years
41:16No
41:16So basically
41:17Basically the question that I am trying to ask
41:18On behalf
41:19Of all
41:20So called
41:21Secular-liberal
41:22Mahamtav energy stayed in power for 15 long years
41:26DMK was in power for 10 years
41:31The communist party was in power in Kerala for 10 years
41:37So of course
41:39If people decide to change they will change
41:41But this argument also does not hold that
41:44BJP manages to do it and there is Kant
41:45Increasingly
41:46Pinaray Vijayan managed to do it
41:47Repeat himself
41:49Stalin managed to repeat himself
41:51There are factors
41:53But
41:54They did it
41:55And Mahamtav energy
41:57Was in power for 15 long years
41:59I mean after all
42:01What was the alternative
42:04Before the people
42:07If the communists were there
42:08I don't know what the results would be
42:10But
42:10Right
42:11People just get this
42:12They are deranged when
42:14It comes to BJP
42:15Look at democracy like that
42:17No
42:17People's choice
42:19It's not
42:20The BJP governments are not permanent
42:23Of course
42:24Every government in power wants to
42:27Preserve power
42:28Hold on to it
42:29It is natural
42:30They will do everything
42:33That Mahua Mohitra says
42:34No
42:35We will do everything to stay in power
42:37Stalin did it
42:38Mahmata Banerjee did it
42:40The congress did it
42:41The BJP will do it
42:43That's how power works
42:46BJP is in center for the third time
42:47And they will do everything
42:49In their capacity
42:50To stay in power for the fourth time
42:53That is their dharma
42:54That's how you should
42:56The opposition should
42:57Try everything
42:58Or even unity
43:01To overthrow him
43:03And then accept the results
43:05I mean after
43:08A certain
43:09Period of mourning
43:11There is a period of mourning
43:15Which is like 15 days
43:17You cry about AVM
43:19Election Commission
43:20Gyanesh Kumar
43:20And after
43:22Haan
43:22And then we get on with our work
43:24Even the opposition party does
43:25I mean just
43:26It took just three days for
43:29TMC to start blaming Abhishek Banerji
43:32You know
43:33Or
43:34IPAC
43:36Or
43:36Muslims
43:37Who are not standing behind
43:40TMC
43:40And
43:40So
43:41We have a period of mourning
43:43And then
43:43We get down to
43:45The actual reasons
43:46And then
43:47To the next election
43:48That's how the cycle works
43:50But every time we get excited
43:51And we think
43:52Oh my god
43:52Everything is gone
43:54So
43:54If you are
43:55If you are a left liberal
43:56Secular
43:58Liberal
43:59As
43:59People like to refer to
44:01Welcome to the club
44:03I am not
44:04I like
44:04I don't think I am
44:05Part of that club
44:06But if you are
44:07Part of that club
44:08And you are feeling
44:09Respondent and
44:11Losing all hope
44:12Looking at how
44:12BJP is going from
44:13Strength to strength
44:15You know
44:16I think they are
44:16They are governing more than
44:1720 states in the country
44:18Already
44:20Don't lose
44:21Heart
44:21According to Tao
44:22It's all cyclical
44:23And that
44:24The cycle of politics also
44:26Just like the cycle of life
44:28In democracy
44:29You have to convince the people
44:31People are
44:33Generally
44:35Isn't
44:36You know the average IQ of Indians
44:38No?
44:39Around 80
44:40Average
44:41Average
44:41Yeah
44:43If average is 80
44:44I am just
44:45I don't know the
44:46The real number but
44:46Whatever
44:47I will check and we will put it on
44:48Just imagine the average Indian
44:50Guy
44:51With average political awareness
44:54Imagine
44:54Now imagine half of them are worse than him
44:58Now imagine half of them are worse than him
44:59Yeah
45:00So
45:03Half of your country's political awareness is below average
45:08Right
45:09What do you expect?
45:11And your voting percentage is what?
45:13Are you saying BJP is the
45:15Is the
45:16Is the recourse for the
45:17Under average
45:19Mind
45:20Everybody
45:21All the parties are
45:24Looking at that population which is below average
45:27You have to convince them
45:30You have to convince them
45:31That
45:31You
45:32Are good for them
45:33That
45:34You are good for this country
45:36Because
45:37They
45:37Are
45:38They
45:39Will
45:39Get out and vote
45:42You
45:43Move to cities
45:43The voting percentage goes down
45:45Yes
45:45I am not saying that village people are stupid
45:48Or
45:48Urban
45:49The rich are
45:50You know fools
45:51No
45:52It is just how they are
45:55A government change does not affect the rich
45:58Why should they go out in the heat and vote?
46:00You know
46:01But
46:02You are affected
46:03The common person is affected by the vote
46:05So they
46:06Take that trouble to go and vote
46:08You have to convince that guy
46:11Who
46:12Believes
46:13That his lives
46:14That his fortunes will change
46:16If he took that
46:17Made that effort
46:18You have to convince that guy
46:20You are convincing intellectuals on X or Twitter
46:24Or Facebook or Instagram
46:26You have to convince that guy
46:28To vote you
46:29Into power
46:30And then work for him
46:32He will
46:33And prevent others from convincing him
46:35To vote for them
46:36That's how democracy works
46:39Like
46:40What is
46:40That
46:41What is fool's
46:43Not fool's
46:45The share is about fool's
46:47But
46:47What is fool's
46:48Fool's
46:48Who will do it
46:50Who will win
46:51Who will win
46:52Fool's
46:53Fool as an F-double
46:54now it's your choice
46:56well on that
46:57rather enlightening
47:00note we come to
47:01a close of today's episode we hope to meet
47:03Tao again and again
47:05we hope to keep doing this
47:07keep this interaction on
47:09we'll come to him for
47:11all things that are contentious in the world of politics
47:13or otherwise and culture also
47:15so thank you Tao for taking time out
47:17and for giving us your
47:19two cents on the whole thing
47:21today I am Sanghi
47:23but next week
47:24I will be Lely
47:27a comrade maybe
47:29so beware
47:30ask Dukal Sahib comrade
47:32thanks for watching guys
47:34see you again soon
Comments