Ganatantra

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Powered By EPIC ON. The Ganatantra podcast is about politics in India, but steering clear of intrigue and personalities, and the everyday news cycle. Join political science thinker Dr Sarayu Natarajan, the founder of Aapti Institute, a think tank which looks at issues of technology and policy and policy lawyer Alok Prasanna Kumar, Senior Resident Fellow at the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy in Bengaluru, as we bring data, academic works and nuanced perspectives into understanding how politics in India works, apart from identifying and making sense of the broader trends taking place.

Ep. 00: Introduction to Ganatantra

1 min 25 sec

The Ganatantra podcast is about politics in India, but steering clear of intrigue and personalities, and the everyday news cycle. Join political science thinker Dr Sarayu Natarajan, the founder of Aapti Institute, a think tank which looks at issues of...
Ep. 01: Understanding Indian politics

15 min 16 sec

How can we understand how to understand Indian politics In this debut episode, we Alok and Sarayu talk about what this podcast will be about we explore how and why politics is not just about elections but also what happens in between, how...
Ep. 02: Farmers Mobilization & Agricultural Distress in India

24 min 44 sec

Why are farmers in India mobilizing and agitating What are the politics behind the waiver of Farm Loans by State Governments across the country In this episode, Sarayu and Alok go in depth into the economic and political causes for rural distress...
Ep. 03: Political Violence & Riots

16 min 51 sec

Does promoting violence give political parties in India electoral gains Steven Wilkinsons book Votes and Violence: Electoral Competition and Ethnic Riots in India seems to suggest so, looking at electoral data. While Wilkinson looks primarily at...
Ep. 04: Social Media and Political Parties (with Venkat Ananth)

44 min 11 sec

What is the landscape of social media in India How are political parties using social media to cement narratives and organise voters What are different types of media And what is different from broadcast media In this episode, we talk to Venkat...
Ep. 05: Women's representation in politics (feat. Shruthi Viswanathan)

34 min 19 sec

There has been a long standing demand for reservations in legislatures in India for women. Currently, fifty percent of positions in panchayati raj institutions are reserved for women. If womens issues are to come to the fore in politics, is increased...
Ep. 06: Indira Gandhi, Welfare and Politics (feat. Dr. Diego Maiorano)

48 min 55 sec

In this episode we speak to Dr. Diego Maiorano, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the National University of Singapore about two fascinating topics. First we ask him about his book Autumn of the Matriarch: Indira Gandhis Final Term in Office which...
Ep. 07: The Politics of Land ownership in India (featuring Raksha Kumar)

39 min 8 sec

Concerns about land and land rights have been key political issues from the beginning of the republic. Even as India urbanizes, these issues have not receded but taken new forms and new dimensions. Issues of land acquisition and redistribution, and...
Ep. 08: General Elections 2019: What's on the minds of voters and candidates (feat. Astha Kapoor)

1 hr 1 min 24 sec

Starting this week we hope to discuss important themes and issues that might inform how voters choose and how parties reach out to voters in the upcoming elections. Before each phase of election, we will pick one state going to the polls and break...
Ep. 09: Telangana & Andhra Pradesh - Welfare, Caste and Regional aspirations (feat. KK Kailash)

46 min 38 sec

Indias newest state goes to the polls tomorrow in the first phase of polls alongside its parent state. Though Telangana and Andhra Pradesh were once the same state, their political trajectories have been very different and likewise the socio ...
Ep. 10: Assam and North East: NRC and sub-nationalism (feat. Kham Khan Suan Hausing)

49 min 32 sec

As parts of Assam and the North Eastern states of India go to the polls we take this opportunity to discuss some of the issues which have caused much discussion, debate and anxiety in the region. Specifically the implementation of the National...
Ep. 11: Gujarat: Jobless growth, marginalization and caste mobilization (with Aarefa Johari)

35 min 47 sec

Gujarat goes to the polls in the third phase of elections. In the last five years it has seen economic upheaval as a result of demonetisation and implementation of the GST. It has also seen mass agitation by Patidars and Dalits over reservations and...
Ep. 12: Anti-incumbency at the State and Centre (feat. Roshan Kishore)

26 min 17 sec

Contrary to popular perception, Rajasthan is a diverse state which features everything from well irrigated agricultural regions to deserts, large urban centres, to a significant tribal belt along the border with Gujarat. It was also the state where it...
Ep. 13: West Bengal: Polarization and Mobilization (feat Shoaib Daniyal)

50 min 11 sec

In this episode, we are joined by Shoaib Daniyal ofs team to talk about politics in West Bengal and learn about how the BJP is mobilising in this critical state that goes to polls tomorrow. We learn about the trajectory of left politics in...
Ep. 14: Haryana - Caste competition and conflict (feat. Ankur Bhardwaj)

32 min 45 sec

In this episode, we are joined by Ankur Bhardwaj, Senior Editor at Business Standard to talk about the State of Haryana which goes to the polls in the 6th phase of polling. Assembly elections are also scheduled a few months after Lok Sabha polls...
Ep. 15: Exit Polls and Surveys : Accuracy and Transparency (with Sanjay Kumar)

41 min 20 sec

In a couple of days, discussions about the 2019 General elections will hinge on the release of exit poll numbers put up by various survey and media agencies. We explore what it takes to go from a good track record in calculating vote shares to...
Ep. 16: Voter Turnout

27 min 44 sec

Election commentators and nerds of all hues pore over turnout numbers to see if they can read the tea leaves that point to the eventual verdict. It has been no different in the 2019 general elections, with discussions about phase by phase turnouts and...
Ep. 17: Social Media, Political Messaging and Branding (feat. Dr Joyojeet Pal)

38 min 7 sec

The results of the 2019 elections have shown that brand and personal messaging on the part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi played a large role in the massive victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Going forward, social media platforms, both...
Ep. 18: Caste and networks in Maharashtra feat. Sarthak Bagchi

45 min 30 sec

The National Democratic Alliance managed to repeat its 2014 election performance in Maharashtra winning 41 seats the United Progressive Alliance, despite the alliance with the NCP did worse than 2014. This, in a state which has seen farmer...
Ep. 19: What drives pre-poll coalitions to work (and what doesn't) feat. Dr. Christiane Andersen

32 min 35 sec

Even though the Bharatiya Janata Party managed to cross the halfway mark for the second successive time in the 2019 elections, the coalition era of Indias politics is well and truly entrenched, arising partly from the high degree of fragmentation in...
Ep. 20: Caste, political recruitment and party systems in Tamil Nadu feat. Dr. Andrew Wyatt

41 min 43 sec

Tamil Nadu was one of the only states the others being Kerala and Punjab to resist the otherwise comprehensive sweep by the National Democratic Alliance in 2019. Yet, in the simultaneously held Assembly bypolls, the statelevel ruling AIADMK was not...
Ep. 21: Gendered Parliament - Women, elections and our democracy feat. Dr. Carole Spary

44 min 48 sec

Political institutions, be the elected assemblies or political parties have not had the presence of women in their ranks, and not in senior levels. Is that too sweeping a statement How does one parse presence, representation and voice for women in an...
Ep. 22: Failed alliances and national narratives in Uttar Pradesh (feat Sanjay Kapoor)

39 min 38 sec

With the Bharatiya Janata Party and the National Democratic Alliance managing to almost repeat their 2014 performance in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, from the looks of it the Bahujan Samaj Party and Samajwadi Party failed to stitch up an effective...
Ep. 23: Political Islams: Muslims, Indian politics and the 2019 verdict feat. Dr. Hilal Ahmed

45 min 10 sec

Arguably, a central issue in the 2019 elections was the idea of India. The right, notably the BJP, imagine an idea of India at whose centre is a Hindu, and where Muslims and others are excluded. But who is a Muslim To discuss issues such as the...
Ep. 24: Bihar: the Modi wave and welfare delivery in bihar feat. Parth MN

34 min 6 sec

The NDA in Bihar faced antiincumbency at both the State and Union levels when it went to the polls in 2019. Its stunning performance in the elections, improving on its performance from 2014 suggests that the alliance was able to in fact benefit from...
Ep. 25: The Political War over Judicial Appointments

27 min 41 sec

In this episode, we talk about the institutional tugofwar that has taken place between the judiciary and the political executive over who controls the procedure to appoint judges to the High Courts and the Supreme Court. In this episode we try to...
Ep. 26: Patronage networks in urban housing in Bengaluru

26 min 14 sec

Over the last six months we have discussed the macro of Indian politics, addressing large themes and looking at the politics at State level. In this episode, the last before we take a short hiatus, we go into the micro of Indias politics where we...
Ep. 27: Article 370: The constitutionality and politics of repeal

27 min 41 sec

The abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution has been a long standing promise of the Bharatiya Janata Party and it would not surprise too many that they chose to act on it. Yet, what surprised everyone was the manner in which it was done, and the...
Ep. 28: Article 370: The history and future of Kashmir

26 min 38 sec

In this episode, were joined by Dr Andrew Whitehead to frame the debate over Article 370s abrogation in the context of Kashmirs complicated history. We look at the circumstances of Kashmirs entry into the Indian Union and why the provision exists...

S02 E01: Introduction to Season 2

25 min 29 sec

Ganatantra Season 2: Were back from hiatus and we have an exciting new lineup of episodes for you In this intro episode, Sarayu and Alok outline what you can look forward to, the three themes around which episodes will be structured and why weve...
S02 E02: Migration, Marginalization and Citizenship: The NRC in Assam

47 min 30 sec

The preparation of the final list of the National Register of Citizens has stirred up more than its share of controversy with two million or so people in Assam suddenly facing the prospect of being rendered stateless. The antimigrant read...
S02 E03: Combating marginalization: Reservation of seats and jobs

50 min 30 sec

Few issues in post independence India have caused as much heated debate as the issue of reservation in government jobs and college seats. The purpose of this move as the SC famously put it, was parity and not charity. However, with the 103rd...
S02 E04: The Transgender movement: Understanding marginalisation (feat: Nadika Nadja)

38 min 10 sec

The historic NALSA judgment National Legal Services Authority v. Union of India, 2014 was historic in that it read in major rights to be applicable to the transgender community, including specific directives to the government around social and...
S02 E05: At the margins of work: Understanding the platform gig economy

34 min 6 sec

The platform gig economy has brought several changes in the way work is performed and organised. Some kinds of work challenge the very underpinnings of labor and industrial laws such as the need for a place of work and the space for collective...
S02 E06: Dalit Political Representation

35 min 14 sec

Across India, radical Dalit movements have dipped their toes into electoral politics as they have tried to represent their communities in institutions of governance. What challenges do they face Why has the BSP been more successful at electoral...
S02 E07: The struggle for Adivasi Rights (feat. Rajni Soren)

27 min 30 sec

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court of India ordered state governments to begin eviction of Adivasis and Forest dwellers whose claims for forest rights under the Forest Rights Act had been dismissed. Following a backlash against the move from Adivasi...
S02 E08: Maoists and Adivasis (feat Alpa Shah)

41 min 7 sec

Popular discourse about Maoists in India veers from the extremes of heroism to demonization with little attempt to address the nuances of the situation. Given that the movement draws its support from some of the most Marginalised communities in India,...
S02 E09: Migration and Marginalization (feat. Chinmay Tumbe)

39 min 13 sec

Large scale migration has been a feature of life in the Indian subcontinent in the last two centuries, both within and out of the region. In his book, India Moving Chinmay Tumbe calls it the Great Indian Migration Wave an ongoing process that is...
S02 E10: Politics and the Indian Judiciary (feat Aparna Chandra)

44 min 11 sec

In the last decade or so, the Indian higher judiciary and its functioning have come under the scanner like never before. The Supreme Courts proceedings are covered daily, often minute by minute in important cases and its judgements dissected...
S02 E11: The Indian Armed Forces and Civilian oversight (feat Srinath Raghavan)

48 min 25 sec

Unlike Indias neighbouring countries, the Indian Armed Forces have never intervened in any manner in the affairs of civilian government. The reasons for this have been explored by scholars and has been attributed to a range of factors from the...
S02 E12: Elections, Citizenship and Democracy (feat Dr Ornit Shani)

46 min 30 sec

The Indian Constitution guaranteed universal adult franchise from the moment it came into force. In a country with inequalities and divisions based on caste, gender, language, and ethnicity, this was a radical move that speaks of the vision of the...
S02 E13: State Governors - Colonial relics or Constitutional symbols?

41 min 3 sec

The political and constitutional crisis in Maharashtra, which unfolded after the 2019 Assembly elections once brought to the public glare the potential for misuse of the office of the Governor. It has prompted calls to abolish the office or reform it...
S02 E14: Ganatantra Year End Special Part 1 - Events

50 min 1 sec

Alok and Sarayu discuss the big political events of 2019 Article 370 in Kashmir, the Supreme court judgment on Ayodhya and the CAA/NRC and examine their political implications. References are made to relevant episodes and material from previous...
S02 E15: The CAA, NRC and Censoring Protest

23 min 50 sec

Were releasing this special episode of Ganatantra today to talk about the recently passed Citizenship Amendment Act, fears over a proposed all India National Register of Citizens and the governments response to it through internet shutdowns and...
S02 E16: Ganatantra Year End Special Part 2 - Elections

36 min 45 sec

As we head towards the end of 2019, Sarayu and Alok discuss the General elections and State Assembly elections of the year and what they told us about the state of politics in India. We use the various insights given to us by the experts who joined us...
S02 E17: The Future of News Media in a Democracy (feat. Dr Aasim Khan)

36 min 41 sec

The news media is sometimes called the fourth pillar of democracy but at a time when its business model is under attack thanks to large internet companies, and its credibility at risk in the age of fakenews, existential questions about its role...
S02 E18: Politics and Cinema (feat MK Raghavendra)

47 min 24 sec

Indian cinema has had a complex relationship with politics, reflecting prevailing political trends and having provided the base for the launch of many a political career.
S02 E19: The Public University as a Political Space (feat Jean Thomas Martelli)

37 min 20 sec

As Indian public universities become both spaces for and subjects of political disputes often breaking out into violence its worth examining what it means for such universities to be political especially in the face of increasing privatization of
S02 E20: The Politics of Police Reforms

27 min 33 sec

In this episode celebrating one year of the Ganatantra, Sarayu and Alok talk about the problems with police in India why theres low trust in then, why theyre failing at law and order and investigation functions and why there have been almost no seri
S02 E21: Federalism and State Politics

30 min 3 sec

In the third series of episodes of Season 2, well be discussing federalism and State politics in India going indepth into the politics of certain states and some larger themes to understand politics at the state level. In this episode, Sarayu and Alok
S02 E22: Social Welfare and Political Violence in Kerala (feat. Prem Panicker)

51 min 36 sec

The image of Kerala politics contains two dissonant and contrary images that of a state with some of the best human development indicators in the world but also high numbers of targeted killings.In this weeks episode, were joined by journalist
S02 E23: Fiscal Federalism- 2.5 lakh governments and how to fund them (feat. Pranay Kotasthane)

44 min

All governments need to raise and spend money but in Indias complex three tier government, the process by which this money is raised and spent is a subject with serious political and constitutional implications.
S02 E24: Caste, language and politics in Karnataka (feat. Chandan Gowda)

44 min 15 sec

As a state with came into existence on the basis of a demand for linguistic reorganization, its somewhat of a mystery that Karnataka has not yet seen a mass movement or major political party based on linguistic identity.
S02 E25: India's new party system (feat Rahul Verma)

39 min 45 sec

As a recent set of results shows, Indias voters choose very differently in state and national elections. What explains this pattern across the country and what implications does it have for federal politics
S02 E26: Delhi Politics and the rise of the AAP (feat Dr Manisha Priyam)

43 min 45 sec

In this weeks episode, Dr. Manisha Priyam joins us to discuss Delhi politics. She walks us through her fieldwork and her prediction of the rise of the AAP, the new politics of Delhi post the violence at JNU and the deeply communal campaign, and th
S02 E27: Federalism in India (feat. K K KAILASH)

24 min 29 sec

This week on Ganatantra Sarayu Natarajan and Alok Prasanna Kumar talk to Dr. Kailash in their continuing series on Federalism in India.
S02 E28: Politics in West Bengal (feat. Shaoib Daniyal)

56 min 42 sec

This week on Ganatantra Sarayu Natarajan and Alok Prasanna Kumar welcome back Shoaib Daniyal to talk about the politics of West Bengal.
S02 E29: Policy in the shadow of Covid 19

31 min 35 sec

This week on Ganatantra Sarayu Natarajan and Alok Prasanna Kumar discuss the impact of the Covid19 pandemic on public policy.
S02 E30: Season Finale and Wrap Up

29 min 57 sec

This week on Ganatantra Sarayu Natarajan and Alok Prasanna Kumar discuss the second season of Ganatantra and how Covid19 has impacted the subjects they spoke about.