Editors' Roundtable: From Budget to Bengal - Unpacking India's Hot Topics| Oneindia
OneIndia's Editors' Roundtable with Pankaj Mishra delves into a diverse range of pressing issues. The show covers economic topics like budget expectations and market trends, alongside political developments in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. It explores India's performance in the Olympics and cricket, while also addressing health concerns like the Chandipura virus outbreak in Gujarat. The discussion extends to global tech issues, international politics including Trump's legal troubles, and domestic matters such as religious tensions in West Bengal and the ongoing quota debate in Karnataka. This comprehensive roundup offers viewers a nuanced perspective on current affairs across various sectors.
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00:00Hello and welcome and thank you for tuning in once again in Editor's Roundtable. This is the
00:05place where all One India editors come at one stage and discuss the top stories of the week
00:12and which have the propensity, the likelihood of dominating the next week as well. Without much
00:18ado, let me introduce you to Kanhaiya, joining us from One India Telugu, Hritesh Ghosh from One
00:25India Bangla, Avinash Sharma, editor of Mykhail, the sports wing of One India, Keshav Karan, the
00:30editor of One India Hindi, Kalpesh Khandoria joining us from Gujarat, One India Gujarat's
00:37editor, Nagend Singh, our original content editor and heading the English international team and
00:45we are also expected to be joined by Shruti Sarkar who will be ready with all the details on the
00:50upcoming budget. Kanhaiya, let me begin with you first. The state of Andhra Pradesh is making
00:55headlines for all the wrong reasons. What is the law and order situation as of now in the state? We
01:00see blood on the streets. Firstly, good evening to the panel members out there. Yeah, actually
01:09law and order situation in A.T. is turning out to be worse after the recently concluded elections.
01:15So, the party in power, the B grade leaders, you know, they are actually targeting the opposition
01:23leaders. So, we've seen that actually the visuals, yesterday there was an incident in Vinopanda of
01:31Guntur district. So, in that place, there was actually a video has gone very viral wherein a
01:40person is actually hacking another person. What people claim is that it's a party war.
01:50A few are saying that it's not a party war, it's some personal grudges that has led to this
01:56attack. So, that person, I mean, whoever, the police have caught hold of the person
02:08and today actually the opposition leader, Jagan Mohan Reddy, is still on his way.
02:15There were also some hurdles created in his journey. So, armed force section is imposed
02:22in that very place called Vinopanda. Jagan will be visiting the victim's family to console them.
02:30Actually, both were friends, but they have deviated their paths on the party lines. One
02:36was in YSRCP and the other was in TDP. What the report says is that the person belonging to TDP
02:44has had to get the YSRCP party vote. So, that is why Jagan is making a visit to that place,
02:52Vinopanda, to console the family members. And that is one. And before that, last week also,
02:58we have actually seen, you know, in a place called Nangal. So, there was a place called Nangal,
03:048-year minor girl. She was raped and raped to death. And the minor boys from class 7, her
03:13seniors from class 7 and class 8, they have actually done this thing. And when, actually,
03:22this incident occurred on July 7, but it came to light after two days when parents went and
03:30gave a missing complaint. So, based on that missing complaint, police have started the
03:34investigation. When they found that, actually, they have taken the sniffer dogs and finally they
03:41arrived at a conclusion saying that the girl was raped. So, when they caught hold of the boys and
03:47their parents, minor boys, when they were killed, you know, they said that they have thrown her body
03:53in Krishna Hill. So, now this search operation is going on. But still today,
03:58the body was not found. That is another very sad incident. And stone peltings are happening
04:05regularly on former MPs' residence, opposition parties. So, these are all are happening.
04:13And it's really worrisome here in AP about the law and order situation.
04:18Yes, absolutely. Karey, is it common in AP or is it because of
04:24the government change that has happened? So, there's a spike in these cases?
04:28No, it's government. It's only a month that the government has taken charge.
04:34But within this month, only we've seen about more than 30 cases. And there are some,
04:39there are also a few cases that have not been registered.
04:44This was leaking, but officially they are not on records.
04:48Okay, okay, okay. In your vicinity, in Telangana, the loan waiver is something that is being looked
04:58at as a ray of hope. How is the government, the new government in Telangana coping up with it with
05:03a dried exchequer? Yeah, actually, this loan waiver, this was put in their manifesto,
05:11it was an election, I think it was a full promise. And now, that promise has been fulfilled. But
05:16there are still, there are some ups and downs in this also. Because it's not given for everybody,
05:23it's only given for the people who has that passbook, patta passbook. For those people only,
05:30the government has actually given the waiver of the loan. And yesterday, it was in an,
05:37actually, this was celebrated as an event yesterday, yesterday evening,
05:41where in 7000 crores, 7000 crores was transferred to the beneficiaries around 11.47 lakh farmers
05:50on these lands. But this was only the first installment. So the second installment will be
05:54done this month ending. So end of this month, the second installment also will be completed.
05:59Overall, the overall government has promised to waive off 38,000 crores. So politically,
06:06I think, Revanth Reddy has got some mileage over this, because he had fulfilled one promise,
06:12the free bus is being implemented here. So gradually, they are actually going but
06:17it's very common that the opposition will make some comments that's seen everywhere.
06:22And now that Revanth Reddy is actually, he was, he was fighting for his survival here.
06:30Because he's been actually pulling the pulling the mailers from the other opposition parties also.
06:37And now, with this kind of, with this event, you know, he has got a good name now with the people
06:44in the public. Good for him, good for him, at least the people whom they have voted for,
06:51Kanhaiya, at least he is trying to stand tall on the expectation. Kanhaiya, thank you so much.
06:58I won't hold you back. Please go back to your editing desk. I know there's lots on your desk
07:03piled up to clear before the weekend kicks in. Kanhaiya, from Andhra Pradesh, and giving us
07:10details on the twin Telugu speaking states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Avinash,
07:15I see you there. We came back from a sports shooter from SAI and Olympics is also around
07:22the corner. The contingent is already there. The hopes are high, aspirations are high,
07:26and you are providing us with the visuals of our contestants whom we wish all the best
07:32practicing and sweating it out in the exotic locales of Paris and France. What is your
07:39assumption? What is the mindset? And how good are we in a stead to do well this time around in
07:45Olympics? Yes, Pankaj, I was at the Sports Authority of India event where the sports
07:51minister Mansoor Mondavia had come. He interacted with a few athletes. They were Paralympians.
07:58Devendra Jhajjaria, the Paralympic Association chief who just recently contested on the BJP
08:05ticket. He is also a three-time medal winner at Paralympics and the most decorated Paralympian
08:12in India's history. He was also there. The top brass was there. The Sports Authority of India
08:20secretary was also present. Everybody was talking about the contribution that the government has
08:27put in the last decade, ever since the NDA government came to power and how they have
08:34ensured that the overall sporting infrastructure and the sporting culture in India has been
08:42transforming. We've seen quite a few sports ministers in the last 10 years and Mansoor
08:48Mondavia is just the latest addition to it. He seemed pretty optimistic about that the government
08:56is doing more than enough and the journalists and the media should keep writing,
09:04keep raising questions as well. But they should not put anything when it comes to the nation.
09:13The nation should not get a blot of their writing or the reporting. So that's what the sports
09:18minister maintained. While the athletes were quite optimistic, they were upbeat
09:24with the way things have transpired in the last three, four years. If you talk about
09:30the Paralympic team, if we look at it, we've seen a lot of development, a lot of
09:39good things happening across. Last time in the Tokyo Paralympics, we won 19 medals. So Devendra
09:46Gajaria is expecting a better haul than that. There were other athletes who have represented
09:56India across various disciplines. They are optimistic. Ranjan Sodhi, the double trap shooter,
10:03the Olympia former world champion was there. I asked him one of the most common questions the
10:11media put up to him was, how many medals are we going to win? He was quite annoyed with the
10:18question because you just cannot predict the medal. He strictly put that you cannot predict
10:27because it all depends on the performance and sometimes the luck factor also plays a big part.
10:34But he's quite optimistic with the way things have progressed in Indian sports that we are on
10:41the right track, he said, and he's expecting a rich medal haul not just from Indian shooters,
10:49but also from other athletes. So 117 member contingent is being sent by India, the biggest
10:59ever. And we just hope that the last time we ended up winning seven medals, the colors of the
11:08medals are better this time around, the number, the medal haul is better, but it will be easier
11:15said than done. So we should be backing our players, we should be backing our athletes,
11:20but we should not be putting any undue pressure on them because every athlete who's traveling to
11:25Paris is definitely aspiring to win that elusive medal, whatsoever color it is.
11:32Absolutely. And that's what they talk about, about mental fitness also,
11:36and unnecessary mental pressure is something that one can always do away with. Right,
11:43Avinash, coming from Olympics to cricket now, Gautam Kambhir in the saddle choosing
11:50Surya Kumar Yadav as the captain for the T20 series against Sri Lanka. How do you read it?
11:55Well, that came as a surprise to many and not just me. And it was happening, a lot of talk was
12:02happening around the cricketing corridors. The rumor was the buzz that Surya Kumar Yadav is
12:09fit to be the next T20I captain of the Indian cricket team. And he's going to pick Hardik
12:15Pandya who looked as apparent to Rohit Sharma after the Indian captain retired after helping
12:22India lift the T20 World Cup trophy. Surya Kumar Yadav, yes, he has the potential, he has the
12:28merit to be the captain, but everybody down the line feels that it's a little bit harsh on Hardik
12:37Pandya's part because he has not done anything wrong. He's led the side in Rohit Sharma's absence
12:43and he's led the side well. He's one of the most accomplished all-rounders that the Indian
12:48cricket team has ever had in the last couple of decades. So, on meritocracy and talent-wise,
12:56if you look at Hardik Pandya, he did nothing wrong. He was the match-winner for you in the
13:01just-concluded T20 World Cup as well. Whenever Team India required his services, he was there,
13:08he put up his hand and he did the job for the Indian cricket team. So, definitely, it's a
13:13setback for Hardik Pandya and his fans. But let's just hope that whatever transition Team
13:21India goes through during this leadership change and the new leadership coming to the mantle,
13:29it doesn't impact the overall fabric of the Indian cricket team and everybody is taken into
13:36confidence when the coach and captain, they all assemble and prepare for the upcoming series and
13:44the way forward. Indeed, Avinash. We also wish our Indian cricket team also to get us the
13:53much-desired trophies from Sri Lanka. A very competitive team there in the Asian subcontinent
13:59and who doesn't know the rivalry between India and Sri Lanka when it comes to cricket. Avinash,
14:05thank you so much. Editor of MyKale there speaking to us. Up next is Shruti Sarkar, a person whom
14:11everybody has already started to look for in the newsroom because budget is right around
14:17the corner. Shruti, what are we looking at as of now as far as the budget is concerned? I know
14:23this is the first budget as far as the new Modi government 3.0 is concerned.
14:29What are the expectations especially from the markets? Thank you, Pankaj. Now, I had a
14:35very insightful day today. I spoke to specialists from different sectors starting from health
14:43to I spoke to somebody from policy bazaar to GOG financial to brokerage firms
14:51and they all of course had different views about how the budget will be. Will this be a populist
14:57budget or conservative one? But one thing they said that will happen probably very likely
15:08is first, adjusted tax lapse and secondly, it will be a growth-driven budget. So for example,
15:19India is still the fastest growing economy in the world as of today and it will probably be
15:25the fastest growing economy. In fact, IMF has raised India's growth forecast from 6.8 to 7%.
15:33Now, how this growth will give financial stability or stability to the economy,
15:38that will be the core aspect of the budget. So health sector is again expected to
15:47get some kind of tax relief. Right now for people who are employed, it's very
15:54straightforward. It's either 30% under new regime or it's 5, 10, 15, 30. So that is expected
16:01to change. How much it will be? Of course, we can just have estimates. In fact, I urge
16:07everybody to look at goodreturns.in. We have new widgets up and live and very nicely
16:15described what to expect in the budget. CapEx is again something that is largely talked about
16:23and in the last budget, I think the target was increased to 11.11 lakh crore
16:31starting last April and that is around 3.5% of the GDP. So it is also again expected to
16:40increase more. Now from market perspective, we all know what happened on June 4th.
16:47Market crashed. Around 10% is when people, specialists actually think that
16:54there's a crash, but it was around 8%. But it regained in three, four days. And now
17:01yesterday, Sensex and Nifty has it all time high again. So although we cannot really predict
17:09the market movement, there will be very likely huge push for infra, for defense stock,
17:16you know, stocks like, you know, I'm nobody to give advice on what to buy. But
17:24while speaking with these financial experts, they are saying that infra will get a lot of push.
17:30Defense sector always gets a lot of push, a lot of, you know, allocations in the budget,
17:37and that will continue. There's a lot of positivity on budget. And let's, let's just
17:44hope that, you know, it's best for a common man. Right, right. Indeed, indeed. Shruti,
17:50and you draping this beautiful saree also reminds us of Nirmala Sitharaman, who would be presenting
17:56the budget also on Tuesday, which is 23rd. And just for the reminder, for our viewers,
18:01that we will be bringing it live to you starting nine o'clock in the morning.
18:05And also Goodreturns is the place where you will get all the latest and amazing,
18:09amazing, beautiful graphics that Shruti and her team has put up. Shruti, one final question before
18:15I let you go. Anytime when we refer to budget, we think in terms of what gets cheaper, what gets
18:21costlier, what are we looking at? Any reprieve there somewhere? Let's just, let's just say this,
18:27that, you know, in the past few budgets, things that, you know, has become expensive are, of
18:34course, you know, alcohol, cigarettes, some imported jewellery. These are something that
18:44usually the tax is increased in the budget. It's bad for everybody, I think, you know,
18:51cigarette consumption and alcohol consumption. Then what can get cheaper? You know, the health
18:58sector actually expects some kind of rebate on general medicine. So that is what is expected.
19:06Also focus will be on auto sector. So for example, in the next 10 years, petrol and diesel cars
19:16will at some point become obsolete and the full focus will be on green energy and EV.
19:22Right, right. So some kind of tax relief we can expect.
19:28Already some tax relief on EVs could be increased. Yes, yes. Keshav was mentioning about buying a
19:34new car. I think maybe next time around. Shruti, I won't hold you back. Thank you so much. Really
19:40appreciate your candour, your enthusiasm here. All the very best to you and your team for collating
19:46all that data and number crunching and come up with the exact details and analysis of Budget 2024.
19:54Thank you so much, Pankaj. I'll also request the viewers and everyone else on the call to please,
19:58you know, tune in to GoodReturns.in. We will be live also on OneIndia and talking and analysing
20:05the budget aspect. So please watch OneIndia too. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. So there you heard
20:14from Shruti itself. OneIndia obviously will be bringing you all the latest on July 23rd,
20:22but that's all about budget. But when it comes to health care, when it comes to
20:26critical care, one thing that India needs to be wary of is how to mitigate the effect of anything,
20:35of any crisis, any health crisis to the tune of say COVID-19 or for that matter,
20:42be it malaria or something else. Gujarat is witnessing a new type of virus, which is called
20:48Chandipura virus. And it has already claimed a few lives in Gujarat. Kalpesh Khanduria joins us,
20:56our Gujarat Bureau Chief. Kalpesh, what are the details?
21:35Kalpesh Khanduria, Gujarat Bureau Chief.
22:05Kalpesh Khanduria, Gujarat Bureau Chief.
22:35Kalpesh Khanduria, Gujarat Bureau Chief.
23:06Kalpesh Khanduria, Gujarat Bureau Chief.
23:08Kalpesh Khanduria, Gujarat Bureau Chief.
23:11Kalpesh Khanduria, Gujarat Bureau Chief.
23:31Sad, sad state of affairs. Kalpesh, thank you so much for bringing us up to speed with
23:36the development in the western part of the country, Gujarat. And this is something that
23:40has put other states also on alert. Tamil Nadu, for that matter, has already started taking
23:47precautions as far as the Chandipura virus is concerned. Kalpesh, thank you so much. Please
23:52take care. And we hope to see you next week as well. Kalpesh Khanduria, Editor of One India
23:59Now again, coming to you straight away. This morning began, or rather saw the culmination of
24:07Republicans National Convention in Milwaukee in the United States. And with this convention,
24:15obviously now the stamp, the seal on Donald Trump as the official presidential candidate
24:20from the Republican side is confirmed. He chose his running mate also. And then at the beginning
24:25of this week, we had his almost ear shot from a close distance. How do you see this whole mix
24:34coming up as of now? And what a challenge for Joe Biden, if at all he stays in the race?
24:40Well, this election in the US is moving towards a historic election. We already know that what
24:48happened with Trump, he was fired at, he was shot at. And after that, he has come up as a hero.
24:56We have seen that even when the people and the secret services, they were trying to take him
25:04out of the place. He came up like Rocky Balboa. And that was there when he was speaking today
25:12itself. The people who came to support him are also Tucker Carlson. We saw WWE superstars. So we
25:21know what kind of people follow him up. And one of the things that he said that he was not supposed
25:27to be there. He said it was just because of the almighty God that he's present there. And he's
25:34speaking. We know who the right wingers are with him. It's Republican Party. The candidate is
25:41Donald Trump. So it's a good mix of people who want to rule USA in a different manner than they
25:51have in the past. We have heard of Project 2025. And now what is Project 2025? Now Donald Trump's
26:00party, they want to come up with one of the alignment or with one of the systems that have
26:06been in the past when Reagan was there as the president. It is not illegal, but they want to
26:11control the government in a different manner with a different angle and it is all legal.
26:18So if Donald Trump becomes the president again in 2025 in USA, we will see that the US bureaucrats
26:27are going to work very differently. And it will be a kind of game where Donald Trump will be the
26:34only voice for whatever he wants. He can do every change in the law or every change in the policies
26:43that all has to go via Donald Trump if he becomes the president. At the moment, we also know that
26:50Biden is not well. He was in his Delaware house and now he has got COVID. He has been
26:58separated by all the politicians of the Democrats. Democrats must be thinking of the new politician,
27:06new leader who will be their presidential candidate. However, all the polls that we have seen in USA,
27:13they are suggesting that Donald Trump has the lead. So it might be a bit late that the Democrats
27:19will be changing their candidate and Biden might not be the new president. Michelle Obama is the
27:25name that we are hearing the most that she might be the new presidential candidate for Democrats.
27:32But let's see how it goes. At the moment, it seems like Donald Trump will be taking over in 2025.
27:40Right. And again, you've been following the American politics.
27:45I would like to add, finally, we saw Melania Trump. She was there with Donald Trump. She was
27:51not there for such a long time. And despite him being hit, when RNC 2024 started,
28:02Melania was not there. The entire family, entire Trump family was there. But today,
28:08Melania was there. She was there. She kissed Donald Trump. And that's how the entire event
28:14ended. So it was a good end for Donald Trump. Absolutely. And American society also,
28:24you know, a man with a dedicated wife, I would say, and grandchildren speaking for their granddad,
28:32Kaya Trump. I remember giving a very momentous speech there. It rings well with the American
28:40voters. And at least that's what Donald Trump this time around has finally, thankfully, gotten
28:44the support of. Nayan, thank you so much for speaking to us. I know the evening is still young
28:50and you have to take care of other developments which are happening in the other parts of the
28:54world where the day has just begun. Please go ahead. Thank you so much. Thank you. Glad to be
28:59with you. Thank you. Ritesh, I'm saving Keshav for the last conversation. But
29:05well, what an interesting and what an eventful, rather, I would say in a very
29:11pensive manner, the developments in the vicinity in your neighborhood of Bangladesh.
29:18And the protests that we are seeing there, more than 30 people killed, the state television
29:24centers being attacked. What is the history? And when I talk about history, I'm not referring
29:30only to, you know, what happened in the last seven days. But does this go even back to
29:35the Mukti Bahini days that connect with the freedom fighting movement and the Rajakars there?
29:43Yeah, absolutely, Pankajji. This quota system started right after Bangladesh got independence
29:50in 1971. It started in 72. And from that year, it started. And from next year,
30:00this agitation is also started. And it is still going on. Whenever that time,
30:07when Bangladesh got independence, Awami League was there. And they started this quota system.
30:14And it is mainly to give some opportunity to the Mukti Bahini people who fought for
30:22Bangladesh independence. And few others for women and few for differently abled person.
30:31And some quota was there for every districts of Bangladesh. So this is how it was started.
30:38And gradually, year after year, it got some protests from the opposite party who are called
30:45Rajakars or you can say the BNP Jamaat. They protested against it. And the latest 20 years,
30:57if you see this reservation, it amended multiple times. First, after this Mukti Yodha,
31:09Awami League amended this opportunity to be given to their son also, the next generation.
31:21Again, in the 2010-11, again, it amended and now they said that they will, their
31:31second generation, third generation will also get this opportunity of the quota system.
31:36So this is how these things amended by Awami League whenever they were in the government
31:41for last one and a half decades there, Sheikh Hassan is there in the government. So they
31:48amended. And now the agitation is against this quota system. That is how it is unfolded.
31:58Sheikh Hasina government has gone to Supreme Court for the abolition of this quota system,
32:07because when they abolished it, some of the Mukti Bahini people have gone to high court
32:17and asked for this quota system to remain available. And high court give judgment in their
32:24favor. So now the agitation is just to stop this quota system. Now, Pankaj ji, I see many
32:37different layers and angles to this agitation or whatever you see happening in Bangladesh.
32:45Because from the beginning, there is a subdivision with the Awami League and BNP Jamaat,
32:53who are pro-Pakistani. In the time of independence, they supported Pakistani army
33:01and they are called Rajakars, the BNP Jamaat Bahini. And Awami League is for the independence,
33:08for the pro-independence Bahini, Mukti Bahini they called. So in recent times,
33:18whenever you see Bangladesh struggling with something, you can sense that something
33:27happening in that area with the rise of China, with the help of India. Bangladesh is always
33:34there in the center point and India and China is fighting each other. Absolutely.
33:43Pakistan is also there to support China or to support the Rajakars, who are actually trying
33:50to implement their kind of vitalism that Pakistan wants or China wants in the Bangladesh. And still
33:58Sheikh Hasina is there. They are trying to be pro-India, trying to have a liberal view of things.
34:07Otherwise, we all know that Bangladesh is a Muslim country. 90% of the population is Muslim,
34:13Islamic country. Yes. Yes, absolutely. The fact that it is bordering India. We don't want a Myanmar
34:23like situation for that matter. So I don't surprise if we find some China's influence
34:29to Rajakars to give a price to this agitation. So this all can happen. As we are speaking Ritesh,
34:39the foreign minister S. Jayashankar has said that the Indians there in Bangladesh are safe,
34:44the Indian nationals are safe and India is monitoring the situation. And when the foreign
34:50minister speaks, it's not just about the violence, as you rightly mentioned, it's about the third
34:54party possible involvement, which here could be very well China, backed by Pakistan also.
35:02And what happened in Nepal also for that matter, the government change that has happened there
35:06has rattled China. So it will try to somehow have a foothold in this part of the subcontinent
35:14and Bangladesh being one of the hotbeds for that. Coming back home, Ritesh,
35:20Subhedu Banerjee made a very strange comment. And when we hear Prime Minister Modi and other BJP
35:27leaders saying sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka vishwas, he chose to go completely against it.
35:33Is this the frustration of this drubbing in the Lok Sabha elections or something else?
35:38We can say in both way. It can be a frustration. It can be a tactical political move. If you say
35:45about frustration, we have to say that yes, in back to back 2021 assembly election and in
35:52last concluded Lok Sabha election, Subhedu Adhikari tried his best. He won in the assembly election.
36:02He tried his best to get BJP win in the Lok Sabha seats, but actually he failed.
36:13Right.
36:14So from the disappointment point of view, we can say that yes, it's come from that.
36:22And from political thing, you have to see like we are in a state where 30% of more than 30% of
36:33population is minority. And it is the fact that minorities, they don't vote for BJP.
36:41And in recently concluded election, if you see, even in BJP leaders are also saying that
36:4795% of this minority vote, it gone to TMC. So Subhedu Adhikari was what he was trying to say,
37:00like, if minority is not giving vote to BJP, if minorities are not there with BJP,
37:09then why should I follow the slogan of sabka saath, sabka vidas.
37:24This is what he is trying to say.
37:28But public figures should be very, very careful. You know, be it the interpretation that the media
37:35would do. And if the media doesn't do it, people would look at it. And you have to
37:40know that people have varying degrees of understanding when it comes to.
37:44And the thing is, he got support from leaders also, some leaders like Tathagata Roy, who was
37:54the ex governor also of Tripura and Meghalaya, he was a big BJP leader at his times. He supported
38:02Subhedu Adhikari because there is RSS factor is also there. The thing is, they want Hindu vote
38:13to be consolidated in one space. That is the main thing. If you are trying to analyze what
38:21Subhedu is trying to say, this is what Subhedu is trying to say. Consolidated Hindu vote,
38:26we have to depend on Hindu votes, whatever minority voters, we just leave it. Yes,
38:32we have to consolidate our Hindu votes. Absolutely.
38:40They are trying to latch on to the last straws that they have with them, at least in West Bengal.
38:46Ardesh, I won't hold you back for any longer. Thank you so much for breaking it down. Keshav
38:51wanted to come in and make some comments. Thank you Pankaj. But Ardesh made that point.
39:00What I think is BJP is not rattled because it could not, you know, attract the minority vote,
39:07but it is rather rattled because it lost the pro-Hindutva votes. One thing. Second thing,
39:14this is the modus operandi of the BJP. As far as I know, this party, this front brigade,
39:23they are highly, you know, I mean, strongly following the high command culture.
39:29None of the leaders can make, you know, a wishy-washy statement. Let me tell you.
39:34But this is how they operate. The likes of Modi, Yogi, Nadda, or even their designated
39:43spokesperson would not speak any sort of these things. They maintain a very clean line.
39:50But then they activate the likes of Giriraj Singh, Shubhendu Adhikari, Himanta Vishwasatnam,
39:59and Ananda Haigri. All these motor-mounted leaders, they will come and they will,
40:05actually, they know who they are trying to convince.
40:10Okay. So there is a dedicated vote bank of that sort also, who would be interested in that.
40:16And all these statements, we cannot take it in isolation.
40:20Okay.
40:22This is, I think, well, without a strategy of the BJP.
40:28Right. Yes, Iritesh, please.
40:31What Keshavji was mentioning is absolutely right.
40:34If you see Shubhendu's track record from the day he joined BJP in the 2020 December,
40:43he had not made any loose comment on party or leadership or anything.
40:49This is the first time that Shubhendu Adhikari made some comment which become a controversial one.
40:55What Keshavji was saying was, it can be possible that it is a very tactical move that
41:05BJP leadership is trying to put it in the air after the debacle in the last election,
41:12that we have to resort on our Hindu vote, which is our core vote.
41:18Forget about anything, we have to back to our business.
41:22Right.
41:24Do you see, gentlemen, and I would really appreciate to have, you know,
41:29your both of your responses, starting with Keshav.
41:33What happened in Uttar Pradesh yesterday in Muzaffarnagar, police passing an order that
41:40all the shops were from where the Kaavar Yatra will go, should be clearly mentioning the name
41:46of the shop owner.
41:48Is this Yogi Adityanath's strategy of saying that now we will go our own way, minorities
41:54should go one way, identifying other communities and castes with their shops and consuming
42:01only from the Hindu shops?
42:05Okay, so, I mean, to an extent, I would call it a Tughlaq-e-Farman, I mean, it does not
42:13make much difference when a shop owner is a Muslim, and he can have a Hindu name,
42:22or a name similar to the shops that those are owned by Hindu.
42:26So, I mean, don't know, I mean, I see this move just as to create another divide in an
42:35already divided society.
42:37And of course, I see a setback in Uttar Pradesh.
42:44It will call for more radicalization.
42:46I don't know.
42:48How does it matter who owns the shop?
42:54For a customer, maybe somebody is going on, you know, religious
42:59pligrimages.
43:00It does not matter.
43:02They know where to stop.
43:03They know what to eat.
43:05They know who to speak.
43:06I mean, this way you cannot clean, you know, it is calling for more trouble, at least in
43:15the society.
43:15Maybe right now, it looks all well, but there will be repercussions.
43:21And I don't know why it was needed.
43:24I would give an example.
43:26See, this kind of Kavar Yatra has been happening in Bihar and Harkand also, previously United
43:31Bihar, about 110 kilometers Yatra.
43:35We have never heard of any sort of this kind of violence there, right?
43:41There must be, you know, the colony of the minorities, the shops owned by other, you
43:51know, non-Hindu communities.
43:53But it's just a business, it's just business.
43:56I think the same happens in West Bengal also.
43:59I mean, on the communal lives, on the religion.
44:02Any part of the country.
44:04You see, just six months back, during this, you know, inauguration of the newly built
44:11Ram Temple in Ayodhya, we have heard a lot about, you know, social harmony.
44:16Somebody is, I mean, somebody from Muslim community, they are holding the Bhagavad Gita
44:20and coming all the way from Maharashtra to Ayodhya.
44:24One guy is, you know, one, you know, entire Muslim family doing the Padiyatra.
44:30Somebody is stitching clothes for the Ram Lalla.
44:33Yes, yes.
44:34Everything has gone for a toss now, because you have lost some pro-Hindutva votes and
44:39you are trying to appease.
44:41So it's a different kind of appeasement politics, I would call it.
44:45Right.
44:46Ritesh, you take it before I let you go.
44:49Yeah, we have to remember that this is how it works for BJP.
44:52This is how it works for BJP, especially in Uttar Pradesh.
44:56I've seen the slogan of 80-20 in that election and what is working in Uttar Pradesh, it will
45:04not work in West Bengal or it may not work in West Bengal.
45:12But the thing is, this is how the things are going on.
45:16BJP is taking things in their way.
45:19And moreover, I would not only blame BJP, but this is how the political class creates
45:26divide.
45:28This is how we have been witnessing it for years and decades.
45:34So previously, the appeasement was happening at the other side of the fence.
45:39Now it has, you know, violated and everywhere you can.
45:44You can say the Congress ruled.
45:50When it is called that the first rights on the resources of this country is reserved
45:56for a certain community, it is about creating divide.
46:00But that comment by Dr. Manmohan Singh was taken out of context, Keshavji.
46:06He was definitely talking about the deprived communities and out of that deprived community.
46:14I mean, you are explaining it well.
46:16Definitely, before making such a statement, the Prime Minister of the country, well-learned
46:20from the Oxford, he should have thought of.
46:24Such a statement can bring, you know, the friction.
46:29As we discussed in the beginning.
46:31That must be avoided in all circumstances, willingly or unwillingly.
46:36Right.
46:37One more storm that is brewing up is in down South Karnataka about the government, about
46:45reservation in private jobs.
46:47Well, reservation is something that has stayed in India, has seen its increase also, cyclical
46:53increase also.
46:54What is this whole issue in Karnataka as of now?
46:58Is it just reservation or beyond that?
47:02Well, Pankaj, let us see beyond the, you know, behind the scenes.
47:08Let us see the unseen factors around this entire move.
47:14See, a couple of years back, not a couple of years back, a few years back, we have heard
47:22this sort of, you know, reservation being, you know, applied in the state of Haryana.
47:29Haryana had introduced some reservation to the locals in some sort of private jobs.
47:38The move was taken to the court and the Punjab and Haryana High Court quashed it.
47:44Because in our constitution, there is no provision to provide any sort of reservation based upon
47:52your, you know, what do you say, localities.
47:56Based upon your, you know, the place you will stay.
48:02So it can domiciles you.
48:06The reservation cannot be given.
48:08Some priority can be given, but not that sort of reservation.
48:14When we know it, Sridhar Ramaiah must be knowing it.
48:19Today we see Shashi Tharoor had made a comment against their own government in Karnataka.
48:24This was uncalled for.
48:27Many other Congress leaders and particularly Congress legal field had already, you know,
48:33made a statement that, you know, this kind of provision will not, you know, stay in the legal
48:41review.
48:42Then why did Sridhar Ramaiah did it?
48:46A seasoned leader, Sridhar Ramaiah is not a rookie.
48:50So BJP had burnt its hands doing this before.
48:54Definitely, definitely, definitely.
48:56So why did Sridhar Ramaiah did it?
48:59So I see it as a rhetoric always Sridhar Ramaiah play.
49:05You must be, all of us are aware of the kind of development has been happening in the state
49:11of Karnataka.
49:12And ever since this new government formed, there was a power tussle between Sridhar Ramaiah
49:18and DK.
49:20Recently, Sridhar Ramaiah and his family is, you know, being blamed for this MUDA scheme,
49:28Mysore Urban Development Authority.
49:31So all sort of negative, you know, publicity or kind of, you know, a tough situation, the
49:38Sridhar Ramaiah family and the Karnataka government was going through.
49:44I see is as a rhetoric to, you know, divert the attention, to shift the attention of the
49:49media, the people of the state.
49:52And Sridhar, this is typical copybook style of Sridhar Ramaiah.
49:58When he's hostile, whenever he's hostile, he, you know, adopts this Karnataka pride
50:07rhetorics.
50:10Few months back, few months back, we have heard, there's a couple about putting bigger
50:16size signage board in Karnataka and all the multinational offices being operated.
50:23And, you know, operating from Bangalore and other cities of Karnataka, how does it matter
50:29an MNC putting a bigger font name in Karnataka and a smaller font, you know, in other languages.
50:38Two years back, there was another outrage about, you know, the names written in Hindi
50:45on the metro stations of that state.
50:50Pankaj, let me tell you, I have stayed in that state, Karnataka for good 18 years.
50:59Multiglottic society.
51:02People hardly, you know, care what languages you speak, whatever language you are comfortable.
51:08The locals are good to, you know, make conversation in that particular language, if you are
51:13comfortable in English, Hindi, Urdu, whatsoever.
51:16If they are comfortable, they will speak.
51:18Otherwise, this society is so beautiful.
51:20If somebody is not able to pick what you speak, they will call the other person and they will
51:25try to help you out.
51:26So it does not make any sense for that particular society.
51:31This is purely political move.
51:34And this is definitely to divert the attention, the corruption charges.
51:40This government has blasted a lot on the previous government for the corruption, for this KCM,
51:4740% CM.
51:50Yes, now the charges are being leveled at the same compensation.
51:55So Siddharam Iya and hostile Siddharam Iya is trying to, you know, take some aggressive
52:01steps and blow all their attention apart to the new thing.
52:07That is how I see.
52:09Right.
52:10Keshav, thank you so much for this very intense breaking down of the whole reservation
52:16scenario and why it is a touch and go and back and forth from the Siddharam Iya government,
52:23whether he was testing waters, he played his card, took it back.
52:27Keshav.
52:28One more line, one more line.
52:30The very same day, I mean, the bill was moved, the bill was cancelled also.
52:37But in the evening, we heard what DK Shivkumar said.
52:43He said that Bangalore is a beautiful place and the talented people from all non-Karnataka
52:49community also stay in Bangalore and they had made the state prosperous.
52:56Yes.
52:56So you can guess the difference.
53:01So there is much more to be seen in the state.
53:04Let us see.
53:05And just a day back, a minister in the present government stepped down and now he's in the
53:14ED custody.
53:15Let us see what all comes up.
53:18Right.
53:19Absolutely.
53:20Absolutely.
53:21Thank you so much, gentlemen, for speaking to us, Ritesh.
53:24Thank you so much for patiently listening to Keshav and the importance of this whole
53:31political tussle that is on between the between DKS and Siddharam Iyer in the state of Karnataka.
53:39On this note, we take your leave here.
53:43And with the promise that we'll be back next time, next week at the same place.
53:47OneIndia.com is very will find us on YouTube and do visit our website.
53:52Also, OneIndia.com in English and OneIndia.com slash Hindi for all the latest in Hindi.
53:59Thanks so much for watching this piece.