Episode 85 - The Monk in CM Niwas – Yogi Adityanath tells us why he switched gears

07/31/23 • 64 min

Yogi Adityanath is the two-time chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and head seer of the Gorakhnath Math. Prior to this, he also had the feat of becoming the youngest MP at the age of 26 after he was elected to the lower house of parliament from Gorakhpur parliamentary constituency of the state of Uttar Pradesh in 1998 after his Guru Mahant Avaidyanath chose to retire from active politics and declared Adityanath as his successor. He is also termed as an undefeated parliamentarian as he won consecutive parliamentary elections from 1998 to 2014. Unlike other politicians, he is always dressed in a saffron dress and wears his Hindu identity as pride and is projected as a Hindutva hardliner by his political opponents. However, he is also termed as a firebrand CM for his government model and actions against the mafia, which have been adopted by many other chief ministers in other parts of the country. In this edition of ANI Podcast with Smita Prakash recorded in the city of Lucknow, Yogi Adityanath speaks about his early days and his transformational journey from Ajay Singh Bisht to head seer of the Gorakhnath Math of Nath community situated in the city of Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh. In this enlightening conversation, the monk turned politician also talks about religion, spirituality and how it helps one in the path of divine pursuit through service to people. He also talks about his family and how a young science student decided to become a Sanyasi. Yogi Adityanath also talks about his governance model and explains how he has been able to successfully ensure peace in Uttar Pradesh by acting against mafias in his little more than six years of tenure. He further talks about the I.N.D.I.A alliance, Kashi Vishwanath temple – Gyanvapi row, violence during polls in the state of West Bengal and raises his suspicion behind Manipur violence.

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Episode 84 - I.N.D.I.A a majboori, West Bengal-Congress still a force - Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury is an Indian politician serving as the leader of the Indian National Congress in the 17th Lok Sabha and a Member of Parliament from Baharampur constituency in the state of West Bengal. He also heads the Public Accounts Committee as chairperson and is current president of the West Bengal Congress Committee. In his three-decade political career, Chowdhury has been an MLA in the West Bengal assembly and has also served as union minister of state for railways in the Manmohan Singh government. He was made leader of the Congress party in Lok Sabha by Congress parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi in 2021, as he was one of the most vocal MPs of the party and has been raising political as well as party issues inside as well as outside the house. Chowdhury stoked controversy on July 28, 2022 after he referred to President Droupadi Murmu as "Rashtrapatni" instead of "Rashtrapati" for which he was attacked by political opponents and he apologized for the same by writing a letter to President Murmu. In this edition of ANI Podcast with Smita Prakash, Chowdhury talks about the newly formed coalition of opposition parties INDIA, which is all set to contest against the incumbent NDA. He also accused the ruling dispensation of discrimination over the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi as the member of the Lok Sabha and said that he is ready to offer his seat to Gandhi siblings if they wish to contest next general elections. Chowdhury also talks about how poll violence has become a part and parcel in his home state under TMC’s rule and exuded confidence that the Congress party will win upcoming state elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.

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Episode 86 - NEP, Odisha Politics, Balasore rail tragedy and much more with Dharmendra Pradhan

Dharmendra Pradhan is a second generation politician and currently serving as a minister in PM Modi’s cabinet looking after Education, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. He also has the feat of being the longest serving minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, a role which he donned for seven years between 2014-2021. Pradhan is also known as ‘Ujjwala Man’ after he successfully implemented Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana providing LPG connections to over 8 million families from Below Poverty Line (BPL). Pradhan started his political career as an ABVP karyakarta and has donned several hats in the organisation too, including serving as national president of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, the youth wing of BJP, between 20024-2006 to becoming national secretary of BJP in 2007. In this edition of ANI Podcast with Smita Prakash, Pradhan talks about National Education Policy in detail and provides a detailed insight into the changes in curriculum, structure and its implementation across the country. He also talks about resistance and opposition to the NEP by a few state governments. He also talks about the Balasore rail tragedy, the Manipur issue, the opposition's I.N.D.I.A alliance and BJP-BJD relations in Odisha with Naveen Patnaik sharing a close bond with PM Narendra Modi.