Rajdeep Sardesai, N. Ram and Jayanti Natarajan in conversation with Varghese K. George on The Hindu Lit for Life 2025. Photo credit: R. Ragu
Young India aspires to a new kind of politics, said senior journalist Rajdeep Sardesai at the Hindu Lit for Life Festival 2025 in Chennai on Sunday, January 19, 2025. Neither of these fulfill India’s true aspirations, he said.
Mr. Sardesai was in conversation with Mr. N. Ram, a veteran journalist and director of The Hindu Group Publishing Private Limited. Former Union Minister Jayanti Natarajan and Varghese K. George, Resident Editor of The Hindu New Delhi, talk on the theme of “The election that surprised India”.
Also see: The Hindu Lit for Life 2025 Day 2 LIVE
“Over the past 10 to 15 years, the Bharatiya Janata Party has emerged as the country’s leading political party, replacing the old Congress, challenging the Nehruvian consensus that has dominated Indian politics for about 60 years,” Sardesai said. I’ve seen a change,” he said. After independence. The BJP is not just a political party. A political party that aims to conquer India. The emergence of a cult of personality that transcends reality is another feature of politics over the past decade and a half. ”
Commenting on the benefits of diversity in India’s electorate, Sardesai said India is uniquely diverse. “It is not so easy to expect one leader or party to establish its own supremacy.This time last year, after the (consecration) of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, The impression is that the 2024 elections will be agreed upon and the BJP will win 400 seats in the Lok Sabha. Even if the elections were not on a level playing field, the party in power would have a single majority, especially in terms of the media, government institutions, and the ways in which state power is misused. could not be obtained.”
Constitutional democracy is at risk, especially in the way that parliamentary and cabinet institutions are subjugated, he said. India’s electoral democracy is much more complex and diverse. Every region of India asserts a particular identity politics.
Also read: The Hindu Lit for Life 2025 Day 1 Highlights
Speaking about the 2024 Lok Sabha election results, Ram said there were some small surprises among the non-surprises. “The exit polls were almost universally wrong. Rajdeep says in his book that only Yogendra Yadav gets it right. Several journalists have made it clear that the BJP as a party will never win more than 240 to 250 seats, and this is not based on speculation, especially from the Hindi speaking areas. Based on reliable information.”
He said, “The BJP claimed to have achieved a hat-trick, but it was a kind of hat-trick light as the party did not get a majority. The ground has moved under Prime Minister Modi’s feet. They have mended that rift. We saw that in the elections in Haryana and Maharashtra,” he said, adding that not many expected them to win 40 out of 40 seats in the Indian bloc’s states of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. . However, the ruling DMK-led alliance leaders were clear that they had no intention of losing a single seat. “At the same time, how did Odisha and Madhya Pradesh come about? Why were there differences between Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan? These were the surprises of surprises. “It makes clear that diversity and pluralism are the cornerstones of electoral democracy,” he said.
Regarding the role of the media, Lam said the pandemic has proven that people trust professional media. Studies around the world show that people rely on professional media rather than social media. It was a huge win and strength due to Promedia’s reliability and reliability.
Former Union minister Jayanthi Natarajan said, “Tamil Nadu voters have always made their voices heard, no matter what the external noise is. In 1980, the Congress and the DMK formed an alliance against MGR (MG Ramachandran), who was removed from power by the Center. Voters in the state firmly rejected the DMK-Congress alliance in the state assembly and appointed MG as chief minister. Voting R and firmly rejecting MGR in the Congress, the women of Tamil Nadu have always been clear about what they want. Women in India now have a voice and want to vote for more than just empty political narratives.”
The Hindu Lit for Life event is hosted by KIA India in collaboration with Christ University. Associate Partners: LIC, RR Donnelley, Blue Star, Brigade Group, NITTE Deemed University, PROchure, Singer, Chennai Port Authority and Kamarajhar Port Ltd, Uttarakhand Tourism Board, Waziram & Ravi, Indian Bank, Akshayakalpa and ICFAI Group. Real estate partner: Casagrand. Bookstore Partner: Crossword. Food Partner: Wow Momo, Drinks Partner: Beachville, Radio Partner: Big FM, TV Partner: Puthiya Thalaimuroi Gift Partner: Anand Prakash. Sponsored by: U.S. Consulate General Chennai, Water Partner: Repute
issued – January 19, 2025 1:38 PM IST
