ANI Podcast with Smita Prakash

Sheela Bhatt is a veteran journalist with a career spanning over four decades and has covered a host of beats as a field reporter and has also donned the roles of an editor and publisher. Sheela is known for her work as a crime journalist and she has interviewed all mafia dons of Mumbai’s underworld, which include Karim Lala to Vardarajan Mudaliar and Chhota Shakeel to Dawood Ibrahim. She is one of the few journalists who has interviewed Dawood in-person at his Dubai home and is known to have had access to the mafia don for years. Recently, a picture posted by Sheela on her Twitter account went viral on social media in which she can be seen sitting with Dawood interviewing him. Apart from field journalism, Sheela has covered all general elections since 1979 and continues to write on politics, international affairs, among others. In this edition of ANI Podcast with Smita Prakash, Sheela talks about her entry into journalism, her personal life and marriage to Kanti Bhatt and the transition from being a revenue reporter to running a magazine of her own. She also talks about the Godhra riots and how religion is being used for defining politics.

Mansukh Mandaviya is a minister in PM Modi’s cabinet and is known for his proactiveness and being a problem solver. Mandaviya like many other BJP politicians is known for his RSS background and started his political journey as a karyakarta of Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad. Born in a small village named Hanol in Palitana taluk of Bhavnagar district in Gujarat Mandaviya's political career took a jump when the then chief minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi decided to field him in Gujarat assembly polls of 2002 from Palitana which he won and became youngest member of the state assembly, a position he held till 2012 when he was elected to the upper house of parliament from Gujarat. Mandaviya's political rise saw another jump when he was made union health minister in 2021 when the country and the world was battling COVID pandemic but his management skills and attitude of getting things done led to successful implementation of world's largest vaccination program which has earned him laurels from the country as well as from the world. Mandaviya is also credited for sucessful roll out of Jan Aushadi Kendras which aims at providing generic medicines at affordable prices to poor. He has been honoured by UNICEF for his contribution towards women health care initiatives by distributing 10 crore sanitary pads through Jan Aushadi Kendras.In this edition of ANI Podcast with Smita Prakash, Mandaviya talks about his mission on providing affordable quality healthcare to 1.4 billion people of this country. He also talks about the story of COVID vaccine research and how it was implemented amid criticism from different quarters. He also talks about challenges from Big Pharma and his passion for cycling and health routine. On the political front, he slams Rahul Gandhi for showing indifference over COVID protocols and opposition parties campaign for doing politics during COVID.

Splits, switchovers, broken alliances and political drama have become a part and parcel of Maharashtra politics since the day results of 2019 assembly elections were announced, the latest addition being NCP leader Ajit Pawar taking oath as deputy chief minister in Eknath Shinde led government on Sunday. Soon after Ajit Pawar along with eight other NCP MLAs were administered an oath at Raj Bhavan in Mumbai, many saw it as a revenge to NCP Supremo Sharad Pawar who had gone back on his alliance promise with BJP after sealing a deal for making an alliance government led by Devendra Fadnavis in 2019. In this edition of Podcast with Smita Prakash recorded on June 29, 2023 Fadnavis reveals the betrayal of one of their oldest allies, Shiv Sena, led by Uddhav Thackrey. He also talks about how Sharad Pawar allegedly manipulated both the camps by assuring them support for forming a stable government in the state and how he became the kingbreaker of Maha politics from kingmaker.

Piyush Goyal is a second generation politician and currently serving as a minister in PM Modi’s cabinet looking after Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs & Public Distribution and Textiles. He is also leader of the upper house of Parliament and plays a key role in ensuring smooth passage of legislation in Rajya Sabha. Goyal is a trained chartered accountant, holds a law degree and has worked as an investment banker. He is one of the BJP leaders who has seen the transition of BJP from the Vajpayee-Advani to the Modi-Shah era. Under the leadership of Goyal, India achieved its highest ever exports and is credited for bringing in newer reforms to quality control, domestic manufacturing and ease of doing business in the country. Before taking charge as union minister in 2014, Goyal donned several hats in the organisation and has served as national treasurer of BJP. In this edition of ANI Podcast with Smita Prakash, Goyal talks about the unprecedented rise in exports from India, he also talks about how the 'Make In India' is helping achieve better and quality manufacturing by domestic manufacturers and how government is committed towards making India top three economies of the world. He also explains the reason behind the messy Maharashtra politics and exuded confidence on getting the Delhi Ordinance bill passed in Rajya Sabha.

Nitin Gadkari is a Minister in PM Modi’s cabinet and is always termed as the Highway man of India due to the transformational change which he has brought to the country’s infrastructure and connectivity in the last nine years as minister of road transport and highways. Gadkari, like many other BJP politicians, has a RSS background and comes from the city of Nagpur where he started his political career as a Karyakarta of Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad. Gadkari is also credited for being the man behind the first ever expressway (Mumbai-Pune) by bringing in new technologies in the country and helping private companies to ensure quality work in creating modern infrastructure. Gadkari is also a strong advocate of sustainable development and his eco-friendly initiatives in road construction have led to the use of garbage in road construction as a raw material. Before taking charge as union minister, Gadkari donned several hats in organisation as well as governance and has served as BJP national president from 2009 to 2013 and PWD Minister from 1995-1999 in Maharashtra. In this edition of ANI Podcast with Smita Prakash, Gadkari talks about big ticket projects being constructed by his ministry, he also talks about the developmental push in the north-east and future projects for the country. He also highlights the importance of sustainable development and how he plans to reduce the dependency of automobiles on traditional fuel to alternative sources of energy. He further talks about how the transformational change in infrastructure is helping grow the country’s economy and is reducing poverty. On the political front, he also slams the opposition for attacking Savarkar and claims that the BJP will be sweeping in upcoming legislative elections in states as well as the general elections in 2024.

GBS Sidhu is a former official of India's external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing, and has authored two books, 'Sikkim Dawn of Democracy" & 'The Khalistan Conspiracy'. Sidhu is an internal security expert and has worked closely on the merger of the Sikkim with India. Sidhu has also served at various stations of R&AW abroad and has tracked the Khalistan movement very closely, which he terms as a conspiracy by political masters which was meant for electoral gain. In an in-depth conversation with Smita Prakash, Sidhu talks about how people close to the political establishment sowed the seeds of Khalistan & recruited Bhindrawale for political gains. He also discusses how top politicians of the Congress party nurtured Khalistan, which resulted in Operation Blue Star in 1984, also resulting in the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi all set to travel to the United States for his first state visit in the next couple of days, people on both sides are expecting an all-time high in India-US relations. The visit has become significant with both countries working together on ICET, who have recently concluded a UAV drone deal and are collaborating on defence technology. In this edition of ANI Podcast with Smita Prakash, we discuss the significance and importance of PM Modi’s visit with foreign policy expert and President of India’s premier think tank, Observer Research foundation Samir Saran. Saran is a known face in the arena of diplomacy and is curator of Raisina Dialogue. In this episode, Saran talks about how India-US relations have evolved over the last two decades, threats from China and how India has emerged as a natural ally for the world’s most powerful country.

Shashi Shekhar is a technocrat, and a leader in the media and technology space as well as a regular columnist and has authored ‘Collective Spirit, Concrete Action’, a book based on Mann Ki Baat - Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagship communication program for connecting with people of the country. Shekhar is also a member of Team Modi and worked in the 2014 campaign for the general elections. Shekhar has also been CEO of national broadcaster Prasar Bharati and is credited with having brought change in the working style of the national broadcaster. In this edition of Podcast with Smita Prakash, Shekhar talks about how Narendra Modi has rewritten the rules of communication with the use of technology and ‘Mann Ki Baat’. He also spoke about the hostility by the media towards Modi before he became Prime Minister of the country. Shekhar also spoke about the reasons behind technocrats joining Modi’s campaign, PM’s connection with the Indian diaspora, and his first meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He also shares his experience of working along with Rajesh Jain on ‘Niti Digital’ and creation of a volunteering platform ‘India272.com’ in 2013 and much more.

Anu Malik is an Indian music composer and a playback singer who is known for his out of the box compositions and songs. Malik, who has a career spanning over four decades, started working at the age of 14 and has composed music for more than 350 movies and has been accorded the national award for best music direction for the movie Refugee in 2001. Apart from music composition, Malik has also given his voice to some of the all-time hits of Bollywood, like Sandese Aate Hain, Main Khiladi Tu Anari, Oonchi Hai Building and East or West, among others. He has also donned the hat of judge on musical reality shows, including Indian Idol and Sa Re Ga Ma Pa on TV, for more than a decade. In a candid conversation with Smita Prakash, Anu Malik talks about his struggles and entry into Bollywood. He recalls how he fought depression and started working at an early age to support his family. He also talks about the Highs and lows in his career, from ruling Bollywood in the 90s to going without work for a decade. Apart from that, the Border fame music composer talks about accusations of plagiarism, nepotism in the Bombay film industry, his family, and much more.

Milinda Moragoda is a Sri Lankan politician who is currently serving as the 22nd High Commissioner to India since 2020. In his decade-long political career, Mr. Moragoda served as principal government negotiator in the peace talks of 2002-2004. He has also served as cabinet minister for economic reform, science and technology, tourism, justice and law reform in the Sri Lankan government. Mr Moragoda played an important role in getting financial assistance from New Delhi after Sri Lanka plunged into an economic crisis in 2022. Apart from being a diplomat and politician, Mr Moragoda is also a successful entrepreneur and also has experience of over two decades in the media industry. He currently serves as chairman of the MMBL-Pathfinder Group, a privately held investment group, and has hosted television and radio shows in both Sinhala and English. In this edition of Podcast with Smita Prakash and Naveen Kapoor, Moragoda talks about his close ties with top officials of the Indian government and how India went all out to provide timely assistance to the island nation during the economic crisis. He also talks about Indian concern over Hambantota port, which is run by the Chinese, and how it has affected India-Sri Lanka ties. He also talks about the inheritance of debt which pushed the tourism-dependent nation into crisis.