Ganatantra

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 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 that have come up in surveys and conversations with voters and why. What are the economic issues on voters' minds and why? Will national security concerns have a bearing? These are some of the questions we hope to address here.

Alongside, the issue of a Universal Basic Income has also entered the conversation in the run up to the elections. We are joined by Astha Kapoor to make sense of the UBI and promises of political parties in this respect.

You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the new and improved IVM Podcast App on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios

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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 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 discussion on these issues, talking about her reportage and field experience in these matters.

Read the Scroll piece Raksha speaks about here: https://ivm.today/2TLZ6al

You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the new and improved IVM Podcast App on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios

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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 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 his fieldwork in Andhra Pradesh, and the politics of welfare. It is a long-ish episode, but we cover a lot - about history, contemporary politics, and the complex political economies of welfare delivery on the ground.

Discussed on this episode:

• Autumn of the Matriarch

• Post-Clientelistic Initiatives in a Patronage Democracy: The (Non) Distribution of Pork in India’s MGNREGA

You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the new and improved IVM Podcast App on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios

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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 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 Specialist with the Oxford Policy Group joins us as we unpack all issues surrounding women's representation in politics.

Also check out:

Performing Representation by Shirin M. Rai & Carole Spary

You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the new and improved IVM Podcast App on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios

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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 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, and what it means for the upcoming elections, and for our polity as a whole.

You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the new and improved IVM Podcast App on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios

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Does 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 communal riots does not necessarily indicate social harmony.

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You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the new and improved IVM Podcast App on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios

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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 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 than what are being talked about.

You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the new and improved IVM Podcast App on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios

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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 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 a bit about ourselves and the focus of this podcast, what future episodes hold and what you can look forward to on this podcast.

Follow Ganatantra on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GanatantraP

Follow and like Ganatantra on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GanatantraIVM

You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the new and improved IVM Podcast App on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.