Our co-host Chirag Thakkar gets on a call with political commentator and writer Rasheed Kidwai to talk about one of India’s most popular political dynasties – the Scindias. With political intrigue, palace conspiracies, cut-throat rivalry, an ugly, public feud, betrayals and property wars fought in courts, and siblings that do not look eye to eye, the Scindias make tantalizing headlines. Weeks before India announced a total lockdown to combat the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020, Jyotiraditya Scindia dumped the Congress overnight for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) bringing down the former from power in the state. Many saw the return of the prodigal grandson as the reunion of the political dynasty of Scindias under BJP’s catch-all umbrella. Rasheed unpacks with Chirag what this moment means for Indian politics, going into the family’s political history and predicts what the Indian National Congress needs to do to revive itself.
Rasheed Kidwai is a journalist, political historian, writer and columnist. He is Visiting Fellow with the Observer Research Foundation, Delhi, and has formerly been Associate Editor at The Telegraph. He is the author of the upcoming book 'The House of Scindias : A Saga of Power, Politics and Intrigue.'
Hosts and Executive Producers: Priya Kapoor and Chirag Thakkar.
Show Producer: Aria Nanji.
Produced by Roli Pulse, a digital initiative by Roli Books.
You can follow Rasheed Kidwai on twitter @rasheedkidwai here
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You can find Rasheed Kidwai’s forthcoming book on the Scindias on all platforms soon. His other books on Sonia Gandhi, the Indian National Congress, Bollywood and politics can be found here.
Use code BTL20 at checkout on cmykbookstore.com to get a 20 percent discount on Rasheed’s forthcoming book, others by Roli Books and by leading international art, design and illustrated books at CMYK Bookstore.
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