India’s largest fast-moving consumer goods company Hindustan Unilever reported over 7% jump in its net profit in the third quarter ending December 2022. So is it a sign that the consumption is picking up in rural areas -- where 2/3 of India’s population lives. And if yes, will it sustain?  Revival in rural consumption will indeed help India -- which is poised to become the world’s fastest growing major economy this year. Meanwhile, neighbouring China, which is being pitched as India’s rival by the West, is slowing down. Its ageing population and policies are being cited as the reasons. For decades, China’s population fuelled its growth and that of the world. Now it is India’s turn which appears to have overtaken China as the world’s most populous nation. So what can India learn from its powerful neighbour on the demographic front?  Indian government, meanwhile, is giving final touches to its annual budget which will be tabled on February 1. So how will equity markets behave in the run up to the budget? Will it finally see some decisive moves after remaining muted this month?  Infrastructure development is likely to remain the key focus area in the upcoming budget. In the previous budget, the government had allotted 4,710 crore rupees for the country's first Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) project which will connect Delhi to Meerut. We tell about RRTS and more in this episode of the podcast.

In the past month or so, students across India have taken to streets, even boycotting classes, for a variety of reasons — from attacks on university campuses to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). These protests are not limited only to Delhi. They have spread to educational institutions across the country. Even in Karnataka, where student body elections were banned in 1989, there have been campus protests. And then, there is Shaheen Bagh in New Delhi, where common women have been protesting against the CAA for more than a month by blocking a road connecting Delhi and Noida. Business Standard spoke to a number of students from different colleges about the reason for their participation in these protests and tried to find out what makes these demonstrations different from others in the past.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP stormed to a majority once again in General Election 2019. The results declared on Thursday, 23 May show complete decimation of the Congress-led UPA. The BJP increased its seats from 282 in 2014 to more than 300 this time. The NDA total exceeds 350, nearly two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha. The Congress-led UPA won less than 100 seats. Rahul Gandhi, Congress president, lost from his family’s pocket borough of Amethi. He was beaten by BJP’s Smriti Irani. The BJP defied all expectations and swept nearly all of Hindi speaking India. It made big inroads into West Bengal with a staggering 40% vote share. It increased its seats even in south India. Host Ankur Bhardwaj is joined by Business Standard’s Political Editors, Aditi Phadnis and Archis Mohan who try to make sense of the mandate. Tune in to listen to the discussion. For more exciting news and insights from the world of politics, follow The Chessboard by subscribing to the Business Standard channel on Spotify and Google Podcast.

In the seventh episode of Business Standard’s politics podcast, The Chessboard, host Ankur Bhardwaj and Political Editor, Archis Mohan discuss the final phase of voting that will take place on Sunday, 19 May. 59 Lok Sabha constituencies will elect their MPs on 19 May and this includes the 13 seats in the state of Punjab. A little over two years after assembly elections in 2017, how is the political situation in the state? Can AAP retain its four seats in the state? Can Shiromani Akali Dal make its presence felt? Or is it the Congress party in pole position? As we get closer to the day of the results, political leaders around the country are meeting their peers in other parties. The Telangana CM, K C Rao met DMK boss, Stalin recently. Is a political realignment happening in India in anticipation of the results? The Prime Minister was in the news for his comments on advising the Indian Air Force to attack Balakot in cloudy conditions and for his statement on the use of emails and digital cameras in the late 1980s. Tune in for a detailed discussion on these issues. For more exciting news and insights from the world of politics, follow The Chessboard by subscribing to the Business Standard channel on Spotify and Google Podcast.

In episode six of the Chessboard, host Ankur Bhardwaj speaks to Archis Mohan about the battle in the northern states of Delhi, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and the Prime Minister’s comments about former Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi. 118 Lok Sabha constituencies are going to vote in two phases now. 59 of them will vote on Sunday, 12th May. All the seven seats in Delhi will vote on that day. Is it a triangular fight? Is the BJP way ahead of the competition? Has the Congress managed to recover strength in the city-state or is the AAP the real contender? In Haryana, all ten seats will vote on 12 May as well. Will the voting be influenced by caste reservation riots from few years ago? Is caste polarisation an issue? In Madhya Pradesh, why did BJP not repeat its senior MP and former Lok Sabha Speaker, Sumitra Mahajan as a candidate from its stronghold, Indore? And, in the big battle in Bhopal why was BJP forced to bring terror accused Pragya Thakur as a candidate against former Chief Minister, Digvijay Singh? In a speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked former Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi as well. The attack was criticised for being uncivil.  For a detailed discussion on all these issues, tune into the podcast.

In episode 5 of Business Standard’s podcast on politics, the Chessboard, Ankur Bhardwaj and Archis Mohan discuss the four phases of voting, the BJP’s mojo and the violent nature of politics in West Bengal Nearly all of south and west of India has voted. In the east only West Bengal has not completed polling yet. With mostly north Indian and Hindi speaking states going to vote in the coming three phases, how is the chessboard of Indian politics placed? 375 seats have now voted. Less than 200 remain and mostly in territory that was completely dominated by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in 2014. Has the BJP regained its mojo? West Bengal sends 42 members to the Lok Sabha. The Trinamool Congress won 34 of these. Congress party won 4. The CPM had 2 while the BJP also had 2. Voting in the state is accompanied by violence. What explains this violent streak of Bengali politics? For more on all of these questions, tune in.

In episode 4 of Business Standard’s podcast on politics, The Chessboard, Ankur Bhardwaj talks to Archis Mohan who has recently visited parts of Uttar Pradesh. 117 Lok Sabha constituencies vote in phase 3 of elections today. This includes the states of Gujarat and Kerala and parts of the state of Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh among others. In Uttar Pradesh the BJP swept the seats in 2014. How is it placed this time with Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party coming together in an alliance. Is arithmetic trumping chemistry? Is caste overcoming nationalism in the state? Gujarat saw the Congress recover ground in assembly elections in 2017. A rural-urban divide became a factor in those polls. Is this divide still a feature of elections in Gujarat? Both the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party have announced their candidates for all the seats in Delhi now. That has ended the speculation about an alliance between the two parties. What were the compulsions and what are the implications? For more on all of these questions, tune in.

In episode 3 of Business Standard’s political podcast, Ankur Bhardwaj and Aditi Phadnis discuss the SC’s notice to Rahul Gandhi, abusive poll campaign and phase two of polls We are now in the middle of an intense and rather heated election campaign all over India. Phase 1 of voting took place on 11 April and phase 2 takes place on Thursday, 18th April. 97 constituencies across 13 seats will go to polls on that day. This would include all 39 seats in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu. On Monday, the SC also heard a contempt petition filed by BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi against Congress President Rahul Gandhi. The BJP MP alleged that Rahul Gandhi had made a statement and wrongly attributed it to the SC. This was related to the slogan the Congress party has used in these polls to attack the prime minister. The SC also questioned the Election Commission of India over the lack of action against leaders making communal appeals in campaigns. After the rap on the knuckles, the ECI acted and barred Adityanath from campaigning for 72 hours and Mayawati for 48 hours. Click on the link and tune in for more

In the second episode of  The Chessboard, Business Standard's podcast on politics, Ankur Bhardwaj is in conversation with Archis Mohan, Political Editor, Business Standard and A K Bhattacharya. The Bharatiya Janata Party released its manifesto on Monday. The manifesto presents the party's resolutions for another stint in power. The Congress manifesto focused on the issues of jobs and farm distress. How do these two manifestos square up against each other? What are the major thrust areas? What are the economic visions that both the parties present in these manifestos? Parts of the country go to poll on 11 April. We discuss how things are placed in the western part of Uttar Pradesh which vote in Phase 1. For more, click on the link below

In the first episode of Business Standard's podcast on Indian politics, Ankur Bhardwaj is in conversation with Aditi Phadnis, Business Standard's Political Editor and Shine Jacob. Last week, Indian National Congress announced that its President, Rahul Gandhi will contest Lok Sabha elections from Wayanad in Kerala besides his existing seat of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh.  Bharatiya Janata Party President, Amit Shah will also contest Lok Sabha elections from the party’s  bastion in Gandhinagar in Gujarat. What is the significance of these two announcements? How does it affect politics in these two states and the rest of the country?  In a reply to a question during her tour of east UP, Congress party General Secretary, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra hinted at contesting elections from Varanasi. We discuss these questions and the news of Priyanka Gandhi hinting at contesting from Varanasi in this first episode of this weekly podcast.  For more, click on the link above