Ganatantra
60 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 4 years ago - ★★★★ - 16 ratingsThe 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.
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Episodes
Ep. 09: Telangana & Andhra Pradesh - Welfare, Caste and Regional aspirations (feat. KK Kailash)
April 10, 2019 00:30 - 46 minutes - 42.7 MBIndia's 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 - economic concerns. In this episode we are joined by KK Kailash to discuss the evolution of politics in the two states, attempting to understand the policies of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti, the appeal of Pawan Kalyan's Jana Sena and the difference...
Ep. 08: General Elections 2019: What's on the minds of voters and candidates (feat. Astha Kapoor)
April 08, 2019 00:30 - 1 hour - 56.2 MBStarting 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 down the political issues and trends in that state. Each episode will feature an expert who has studied the state for decades to offer in depth insight on the state we're discussing. In this introductory episode, we break down the major issues th...
Ep. 07: The Politics of Land ownership in India (featuring Raksha Kumar)
April 03, 2019 00:30 - 39 minutes - 35.9 MBConcerns 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 forest rights have prompted mobilization in the recent past. How do we understand these movements and what are peoples relationships with land? To answer these questions and more, we have independent journalist Raksha Kumar join us for a discussio...
Ep. 06: Indira Gandhi, Welfare and Politics (feat. Dr. Diego Maiorano)
March 27, 2019 00:30 - 48 minutes - 44.8 MBIn 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 Gandhi's Final Term in Office which examines Indira Gandhi's last term in office, and the political and social implications of her last term. We also ask about the residues of her politics in contemporary India. Second, we touch upon Diego's current work on the NREGA program, and hi...
Ep. 05: Women's representation in politics (feat. Shruthi Viswanathan)
March 20, 2019 00:30 - 34 minutes - 31.5 MBThere 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 women's issues are to come to the fore in politics, is increased representation the only way forward? What has been the experience of countries where women have greater representation in political institutions? Have they had an impact on the patriarchal nature of the society? Shruthi Viswanathan, Governance ...
Ep. 04: Social Media and Political Parties (with Venkat Ananth)
March 13, 2019 00:30 - 44 minutes - 40.5 MBWhat 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 Ananth, Senior Assistant Editor at the Economic Times to unpack these questions. Venkat is based out of Bengaluru and writes in-depth stories on technology and policy. He puts into context the increasing use of social media by political parties, a...
Ep. 03: Political Violence & Riots
February 27, 2019 00:30 - 16 minutes - 15.5 MBDoes promoting violence give political parties in India electoral gains? Steven Wilkinson's book "Votes and Violence: Electoral Competition and Ethnic Riots in India" seems to suggest so, looking at electoral data. While Wilkinson looks primarily at ethnic riots, political violence is expressed in other methods as well, for the same ends of polarization but at a lesser "cost". In this episode, Sarayu and Alok unpack how political violence works in India and why the absence of large scale com...
Ep. 02: Farmers Mobilization & Agricultural Distress in India
February 13, 2019 00:30 - 24 minutes - 22.7 MBWhy 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 in India, talking about why we have seen farmer mobilizations in Mumbai and Delhi and the political calculus that goes into some of the measures that are seen as "pro-farmer", perhaps how even mobilization by farmers may be hiding more issues th...
Ep. 01: Understanding Indian politics
January 30, 2019 00:30 - 15 minutes - 14 MBHow 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 politics is not just about intrigue and personalities, and why it is important to look at the big picture. We also explore how policies that drive change can be political and what the Government is trying to do with such policies. We will tell you ...
Ep. 00: Introduction to Ganatantra
January 23, 2019 10:29 - 1 minute - 1.31 MBThe 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, ap...