Grand Tamasha

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...

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 h...

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...

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 t...

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 t...

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 relati...

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 , directo...

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 F...

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 mena...

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 li...

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 ar...

This week on the Grand Tamasha podcast, Sadanand Dhume of the American Enterprise Institute and Tanvi Madan of the Brookings Institution join Milan to discuss the latest news from the campaign trail. The three discuss the BJP’s controversial nomination of Sadhvi Pragya and the criticism of the Election Commission’s management of the polls. The three also discuss whether we can read anything into t...

This week we are doing something a little different. Milan Vaishnav sits down with the new Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) to the Government of India, Dr. Krishnamurthy Subramanian . Milan had talked with Subramanian at the Georgetown University India Ideas Conference , hosted by the Georgetown India Initiative in partnership with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) ....

First, Milan sits down with Sadanand Dhume of the American Enterprise Institute and Wall Street Journal. In a recent column, Sadanand writes that “an outcome that appeared uncertain a few months ago looks exceedingly likely: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, leader of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, is poised to win a second term.” Milan speaks with Sadanand about his recent trip to west...

First, Milan sits down with Roshan Kishore , data and political economy editor at the Hindustan Times . They discuss the Congress Party’s newly unveiled manifesto and its economic centerpiece - a new minimum income support scheme (called “NYAY”, or Nyuntam Aay Yojana).The two also discuss the tensions between the Congress and Left parties in light of Rahul Gandhi’s decision to contest elections fr...

First, Milan sits down with Irfan Nooruddin, the Hamad bin Khalifa Professor of Indian Politics in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and Director of the Georgetown India Initiative . Milan and Irfan discuss the first week of official campaigning—including ticket selection by the major parties, the state of alliances, and the BJP’s claim that coalitions are “ a...

First, Milan sits down with Reuben Abraham , CEO and senior fellow at the IDFC Institute in Mumbai. A Kerala native who has lived and worked in Hyderabad and now calls Mumbai home, Reuben talks to Milan about the electoral salience of corruption, alliance politics, and recent political developments in southern India. Then, Milan sits down with author, columnist, and investor Ruchir Sharma to discu...

First, Milan Vaishnav sits down with Roshan Kishore (Data and Political Economy Editor, Hindustan Times ) to discuss the latest economic figures from India. The Government of India reported that GDP growth in the third quarter of 2019 clocked in at 6.6 percent —the slowest pace in five quarters. India’s GDP growth forecast for 2018-19 has also been revised downwards to 7 percent from 7.2 percent....

Milan Vaishnav talks about the aftermath of the recent conflict between India and Pakistan and its ramifications for India's domestic politics and foreign policy with Alyssa Ayres (Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations) and Rezaul Hasan Laskar (Foreign Editor, Hindustan Times ). Although major hostilities have paused, tensions between the two neighbors remain high. But as India's election ap...

This week on Grand Tamasha , Milan Vaishnav sits down with Sadanand Dhume (Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute and Wall Street Journal columnist) and Sukumar Ranganathan (Editor-in-Chief, Hindustan Times ) to discuss the aftermath of India’s targeted military strikes against Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist camps in Pakistan . The strikes were a direct response to the tragic February 1...

Grand Tamasha debuts February 27! Here's a taste of what's coming up. Every week Milan will break down the biggest news with fellow experts in Indian politics, and interview an important guest on topics that transcend the headlines.