Grand Tamasha

When India went to the polls in the Spring of 2019, there were few states that election observers were watching more closely than the state of West Bengal. Home to 100 million Indians and responsible for 42 seats in Parliament, West Bengal is always a state worth watching. Yet, this time was different. For decades, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been a bit player in this eastern state. For three decades, the state was a bastion of India’s Communist parties. And since 2011, the state has been dominated by Mamata Banerjee and the Trinamool Congress, a popular Bengali regional party. And, yet, in 2019 the BJP did the unthinkable.  It won 18 of Bengal’s seats--earning a stunning 40 percent of the vote. And it did so despite having a minimal party organization on the ground. This summer, Milan sat down with Shoaib Daniyal of the Indian digital news site Scroll.in. During the election, Shoaib did some of the most interesting and most illuminating reporting on the electoral batt

For nearly twenty years, relations between the United States and India have been on the upswing. Once a nuclear pariah and a country tagged as an important partner of the former Soviet Union, India has steadily grown closer to America since the start of the George W. Bush administration.This week, Milan talks with Ashley J. Tellis, co-author (with former U.S. Ambassador to India Robert Blackwill) of a new essay in Foreign Affairs called, “The India Dividend.” Ashley holds the Tata Chair for Strategic Affairs at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and was a key protagonist, during his time in the U.S. government, in the project to bolster U.S.-India ties. Ashley explains why the logic of U.S.-India ties is misunderstood by so many and why exactly the United States and India share a strategic convergence when it comes to China. Milan also asks Ashley about how the two countries can resolve flashpoints like Russia, Iran, and trade and how to assess the significance is of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s

This week on the podcast, Milan and executive producer Lauren Dueck take listeners deep in the heart of Texas and inside the gargantuan “Howdy, Modi!” rally held in Houston on September 22nd. Milan and Lauren speak with three Indians residing in Houston about their experiences taking in Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Donald Trump. Why did they show up? What did they experience? And what were the main takeaways for the United States, India, and Indian-Americans? To discuss the larger significance of the historic rally, Milan and Lauren also speak with Sonia Paul, a freelance journalist and audio producer who covered the event for the Atlantic. If you are wondering what it felt like to be in the stadium that day, look no further.

EAM Subrahmanyam Jaishankar stopped at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on the first day of his whirlwind trip through Washington, DC. We were lucky enough to record the conversation, which was hosted by Carnegie President William J. Burns, and Ashley J. Tellis. Today we're sharing the minister's remarks in full, along with a selection of the questions we thought Grand Tamasha listeners might be most interested in. The video of the full event will be available on our website in the coming days, and we'll update this description when it's posted.

On this week’s podcast, Milan sits down with Grand Tamasha regulars Sadanand Dhume of the American Enterprise Institute and Wall Street Journal and Tanvi Madan of the Brookings Institution to round up the latest news on Indian politics and policy.The two begin by dissecting the massive, 50,000 person “Howdy, Modi” rally held over the weekend at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. They discuss the optics, the significance, Trump’s role, and the key takeaways from Modi’s address. Later on the podcast, the three talk about the ongoing lockdown in the state of Jammu and Kashmir and the BJP’s endgame in the contested state. Milan, Sadanand, and Tanvi conclude with an assessment of the Indian government’s measures to shore up the flagging Indian economy.

Milan speaks with Prashant Jha, opinion editor at the Hindustan Times and author of the book, How the BJP Wins: Inside India’s Greatest Election Machine. So many election analysts, journalists, and political scientists failed to predict the massive mandate that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claimed in the 2019 general election. This has prompted a good deal of soul-searching as to why. In this conversation, Prashant—who was one of the few who picked up on the pro-Modi wave during the campaign—explains why so many election observers missed the writing on the wall.Milan also speaks with Prashant about the current state of the BJP, the induction of BJP president Amit Shah into the government, what ails the Congress Party, and what could upset the BJP’s current electoral dominance. 

Milan speaks with Niha Masih of the Washington Post about the ongoing political drama surrounding the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam. Nearly 33 million residents of Assam applied to have their names included on the register, which was intended to distinguish between who was a legitimate resident of the state of the Assam and who was an illegal migrant from Bangladesh. When the list finally came out in late August, nearly 2 million people discovered that their names were left off the list--calling their citizenship status into question. Niha recently spent time on the ground in Assam and she and Milan discuss the history of the NRC process, its contested implementation, and the political color it has taken on in recent years. The two also debate the political implications of the registry for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the fate of the millions whose names did not appear on the revised list.

Last week on the podcast, Milan talked with journalist Rahul Pandita about the Indian government’s decision to abrogate Article 370 of the Constitution, which grants the state of Jammu and Kashmir semi-autonomous status. According to Rahul, while many Kashmiris are up in arms over the government’s decision, many residents quietly support the move. This week, we continue our exploration of the events unfolding in Jammu and Kashmir by speaking with Salman Soz, who offers a very different perspective on the actions on the ground. Soz is an international development expert who hails from Kashmir and a member of the opposition Indian National Congress. He is also the author of a new book, The Great Disappointment: How Narendra Modi Squandered a Unique Opportunity to Transform the Indian Economy. Salman believes the scrapping of Article 370 will have serious, adverse consequences for the state and for Indian democracy on the whole. Milan and Salman discuss the latter’s personal ties to the state, when a return to

Milan sits down with journalist Rahul Pandita to talk about the situation in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. Rahul has an intense personal connection to the state—he was just fourteen years old when he and his Kashmiri Pandit family were forced into exile. He speaks with Milan about a recent reporting trip he took to Kashmir in the aftermath of the government’s decision to abrogate Article 370 of the Constitution, ending seven decades of constitutional autonomy for the state. Milan and Rahul discuss the fall-out of the government’s move, the contradictory narratives from the ground, and the prospects for violence. Rahul also explains his frustration with mainstream media’s “apocalyptic” reporting from Kashmir, which he says fails to adequately report all sides of the story. Rahul documented the heartbreaking story of Kashmir and his connection to it in his 2013 book, Our Moon Has Blood Clots: A Memoir of a Lost Home in Kashmir. Today, Rahul is a journalist with OPEN Magazine.

This week on the Grand Tamasha podcast, we bring you some special bonus content--a conversation Milan recorded with political scientist Christophe Jaffrelot in June 2019 in the aftermath of the momentous Indian general election. Christophe is one of the world’s best-known scholars of India, having written some of the field’s foundational texts dissecting caste politics and Hindu nationalism. In his conversation with Milan, Christophe discusses the factors that led to the BJP’s crushing victory in the 2019 election, starting with the magnetic charisma and “national populism” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The two also debate the long-term implications of the election for the construction of a Hindu rashtra (nation), the future of secularism, and what the election portends for the future shape of politics in India’s south.

In the season premiere, Milan hosts an end-of-summer news round-up with Sadanand Dhume of the American Enterprise Institute and Wall Street Journal and Tanvi Madan of the Brookings Institution. Milan and his guests discuss three topics: the Modi government’s decision to abrogate Section 370 of the Indian Constitution granting semi-autonomous status to Jammu and Kashmir, the slumping Indian economy, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day address. Programming note: this season we're changing up our format to allow us to dig deeper into the issues you care about. Each episode will either break down the news of the week, or feature an interview with an expert. Thanks for listening!

First, Milan sits down with Richard (Rick) Rossow who holds the Wadhwani Chair in U.S.-India Policy Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington. With years of experience in the private sector as well as in the think tank world, Rick follows India’s trade and investment scenario India more closely than almost anyone else on the planet. Rick and Milan discuss the recent trade fallout between the United States and India and whether we are at the beginning of an ugly trade war. Rick and his colleagues have also been tracking the Modi government’s economic reforms through a unique reforms scorecard, and Rick tells us about what we can expect from Modi 2.0 based on the experience of Modi 1.0. Then, Milan sits down with Shereen Bhan, Managing Editor of CNBC-TV18, during her recent trip to Washington. Shereen has a front-row seat when it comes to Indian economic news, and she and Milan have a wide-ranging conversation on everything from India’s contested GDP numbers to private s

First, Milan sits down with Uttam Kumar of the Hindustan Times to discuss the state of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the heels of its second consecutive election victory. Uttam and Milan discuss the role that Amit Shah, the longtime confidant of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and newly inaugurated Union Home Minister, will play in the Modi 2.0 government. Uttam also shares his insights into the future of the BJP party organization, the makeup of the Cabinet, and the government’s early priorities. Then, Milan talks with Ashley J. Tellis, who holds the Tata Chair for Strategic Affairs at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Milan asks Ashley about the foreign policy challenges facing the new government, as laid out in Tellis’ new Carnegie essay, “Troubles Aplenty: Foreign Policy Challenges for the Next Indian Government.” Tellis also assesses Modi’s first-term foreign policy record and the current turmoil in U.S.-India relations. Milan ends the conversation by asking Tellis to reflect on Modi’s c

First, Milan sits down with Sadanand Dhume of the American Enterprise Institute and the Wall Street Journal to discuss the Modi government’s Cabinet picks. Sadanand and Milan discuss the two most notable additions to the Cabinet—Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar and Home Minister (and BJP Party President) Amit Shah. The two also discuss the issue of Modi’s second-term mandate as well as the relatively limited institutional checks and balances the prime minister faces going forward. Then, Milan talks with Sajjid Chinoy, the chief India economist for JP Morgan. Sajjid is a prolific commentator on the Indian economy and a trusted external adviser to the government; he currently serves on the Advisory Council to the Fifteenth Finance Commission. Sajjid talks with Milan about the economic headwinds the government faces as it takes office and the hard choices the new government must tackle head-on in its first few months. Milan and Sajjid also discuss the global economic environment, the continuing problems ailing the

First, Grand Tamasha's Executive Producer Lauren Dueck takes the helm to interview Milan on the election aftermath. Milan and Lauren discuss whether the election marks a structural break in Indian electoral history and what, if any, impact the economy had on the outcome. The two also discuss whether secularism has a leg to stand on going forward. Then, Milan sits down with Devesh Kapur, director of Asia programs at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). Devesh has spent much of his career researching the Indian state and he talks with Milan about his diagnosis of the challenges facing Indian public institutions. The two discuss India’s personnel shortcomings, whether India is truly a “patronage democracy,” and what should be on next government’s administrative reform agenda.

Milan talks to Tanvi Madan of the Brookings Institution about the BJP's victory in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. We'll be back in your feed at our regularly scheduled time next week.

First, the new national political editor of the Hindustan Times Sunetra Choudhury joins Milan to round up this week’s news. Sunetra reflects on some of her key takeaways from the 2019 campaign and how, if at all, this year’s election broke new ground. The two also discuss the recent electoral turmoil in West Bengal and the regional opposition’s backroom discussions over a post-election “Federal Front.” Then, Milan sits down with Gilles Verniers, assistant professor of political science and Ashoka University and co-director of the Trivedi Centre for Political Data. If you’ve encountered insightful, data-driven election analyses this cycle, chances are Gilles or his colleagues had something to do with it. Milan and Gilles discuss how 2019 has stacked up in terms of women candidates and the nomination of incumbents. The two end their conversation by reviewing Gilles’ list of “states to watch” on May 23 as the results come in.

First, James Crabtree of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and author of the best-selling book, The Billionaire Raj: A Journey Through India’s New Gilded Age, joins Milan to talk about his recent campaign trip to Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. The two discuss the pitched battle in UP, the impact of Priyanka Gandhi, and the BJP’s rise in West Bengal. Milan and James also discuss the menace of stray cattle in Uttar Pradesh and its impact on rural voters. Then, Milan speaks with freelance data journalist and author of the Scroll.in series, *How India Votes*, Rukmini S. Rukmini shares her disappointment with the state of election reporting in India and the struggle to generate a theory of the Indian voter. Milan and Rukmini also talk about gender and caste—two important themes of the 2019 election that could shape the final outcome. The two conclude with a discussion of the challenges the BJP faces in replicating its landmark 2014 performance.

First, Max Rodenbeck and Alex Travelli of the Economist South Asia bureau join Milan to discuss the newspaper’s recent editorial arguing that while BJP Prime Minister Narendra Modi “has been neither as good for India as his cheerleaders foretold, nor as bad as his critics…imagined,” the risks associated with a Modi-led BJP still outweigh the rewards. The three discuss the Economist’s editorial line, the nature of the 2019 campaign, and what’s at stake for India. Alex and Max also dispel the notion that coalition government is bad for governance in India. Then, Milan speaks with Rahul Verma of the University of California-Berkeley and the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi. Rahul is the co-author, with Pradeep Chhibber, of a fascinating new book on Indian politics, Ideology and Identity: The Changing Party Systems of India. Rahul’s new book busts the myth that Indian politics is non-ideological simply because it does not adhere to the traditional left-right spectrum that characterizes Western politics. Mi

This week on the Grand Tamasha podcast, Neelanjan Sircar of Ashoka University and the Centre for Policy Research joins Milan for our weekly news roundup. The two discuss Neelanjan’s recent column on the epic electoral battle in the crucial heartland state of Uttar Pradesh, whose 80 seats hold the key to the next government. Milan and Neelanjan also discuss whether recent state election results are a good barometer for how those states will behave in national elections. In this week’s interview segment, Milan speaks with Niranjan Rajadhyaksha, Research Director and Senior Fellow at the IDFC Institute in Mumbai and author of the “Café Economics” column in Mint. Niranjan is one of India’s most thoughtful economists and, in this conversation, he provides his big picture assessment of the Modi economy after five years. Milan and Niranjan discuss India’s “two-speed economy,” the banking crisis, India’s export opportunity amidst the brewing U.S.-China trade spat, and the reform agenda for the next government. Niranj