Neutral & Brutal Political Truths BY Dr. Anand Ranganathan

This man needs to introduction. He is India’s top and most respected political commentators. Left-wing people believe he is right-wing, and right-wing people think he is left-wing.  

Anand Ranganathan is a scientist and the author of some amazing books like The Land of the Wilted Rose 2012, For Love and Honor 2015, and The Rat Eater 2019 (co-authored). His forthcoming book is on India’s forgotten scientists 2023 (co-authored). Yes, you guessed it right. Anand sir is known for his outspoken and fearless nature. He is someone who does not fear away from expressing his opinions which is why he is someone that I have looked upon for inspiration. In this episode, he gave his opinion on many talks like Modern-Day India, Science, Leapfrogging, Social Darwinian, JNU, the Cabinet Ministers, and much more.

I hope you enjoy reading this one.

About Him

“Life is good, and I am enjoying whatever is going on. I like to introduce myself as a simple, fun-loving guy. I love to see myself as the jack of all trades and master of none. Because my bread and butter is science, and being a scientist is you are always a student and not an expert. Science gives you a lesson in humility.”

His View On Politicians

“We can do things, and we are in the position to do things, but we don’t. But it is easier to see the glass half full. Politicians see the glass as always half full. Oppositions point out what is missing. But the conversation would be more fruitful if it is the other way around.”

Seeing The World As Black & White

“I don’t believe I am grey, as it makes you a hypocrite. People believe Tipu Sultan was great as he gave money to reconstruct a temple, but he even demolished the temple and killed and converted people. And similarly there are few more people like him.”

“Politicians believe in grey. Modi government is left-wing. The government gave ninety thousand crores to BSNL, which should not exist. Modiji had said the government has no business to be in business.”

Success Of The Government

“The government has been saying this, yet in the last nine years, it has been in the business of running businesses. Modiji was right that government should not run businesses. And this is grey. He says not to be in business, but the government is doing that.”

“The BJP government has been giving freebies like any other political party. And I am not saying there is anything wrong with it because in a country like India, the government needs to do that. I am a proponent of the welfare state. But the money for this can’t come from socialism. It has to be generated from capitalism.”

“During elections, politicians say many things but aren’t held accountable. But in the UK, people don’t believe and ask where the money will come from. The problem comes not in the ideologically agnostic policies. Nobody will dispute the construction of highways or toilets. UPA government also had done these things, but the pace with BJP is doing that is unbelievable.”

“People would vote for you only when you do things for people. When you are building a highway, you are providing employment, and because of that, you are creating jobs. But the problem is in leapfrogging.”

Truth About Politicians

“Two years ago, Modiji decided to bring in farm bills. First, the government gave farmers a choice to sell the products wherever they wished. Second, the farmers could not hoard stuff. The third was to become contract farming. It could have catapulted India to a middle income. Each of these reforms was in the manifesto of all the parties. But when the BJP government announced this, people in Punjab, under Congress’s governance, started revolting. But BJP shouldn’t have taken it back. If this would have happened in the US, the people would have questioned them.”

“People only call me once to talk. One of my friends called me for a conference on Dynasties being the scourge of Indian politics. It was a BJP-sponsored event. When it was my turn, I took the first 5 minutes to talk about the 94 BJP MPs and MLAs who are dynasts. My talk was the only talk that wasn’t uploaded online from that event. They are still my good friends, and nothing has changed. But they never called me again. There was one more such event on corruption, and I don’t remember where or when it was. But I gave a few instances where BJP was also involved in corruption, and after that, they didn’t call.”

“And I could be wrong. And everything that I say comes with an element of doubt. If I am wrong, I do apologize. And some things don’t go my way.”

Right-wing or Left-wing?

“I am at times branded as right-wing. And the minute I say something against it, they are like he is from JNU, etc. People categorize you because it is comforting to them. The fact of the matter is it is difficult to categorize someone as right or left-wing.”

About Twitter

“I have learned to take the good from Twitter. There is a lot of bad. Everyone has a mic, but the fact is, you constantly need to learn. It allows you to be humble at all times and enriches you in so many ways. We think we know someone, but that is not true, and I am fascinated to learn about this.”

JNU

“JNU has a polarized option. But it is not what a lot of people pursue it to be. In people, they are nice to talk to. There are a few bad ones, but not all are like that. The persona of JNU is anti-national. With our new vice chancellor, things have improved. She is a no-nonsense lady. She is a product of JNU and interacts immediately and is a doer. It is a good place. They need to have more alumni meets, and the aluminizes should help.”

Timeline of Future Prime Ministers

“I was on a panel discussion with J Sai Deepak, and I gave a timeline from the top of my head for the PMs till 2050. It was a light-hearted question. So I said Modi Ji would win in 2024, and he should retire in 2026. Then Amit Shah would come, and in 2029 will be Yogi. He would be in term from 2029 to 2039. After that, I feel it would be Himanta Biswa Sarma, and then it would be K. Annamalai and after that it would be  J. Sai. And the funny thing that I said was Rahul Gandhi will be the leader of the opposition throughout.”

Thank You!