India's Prime Minister since 2014, Narendra Modi, had pitched his ambitions for 2024 higher than any of his predecessors, banking essentially on a Hindu-majoritarian wave to hand him, a cult figure, absolute powers. The electorate, like often in the past, sprung a surprise many hadn't foreseen—Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lost 60 seats in the lower house of Parliament, and its majority; it limped back to power only with the help of allies who could, potentially, blunt his unilateral and often authoritarian style of functioning. The outcome also put in India's Parliament the strongest Opposition since Modi assumed power in 2014. Modi remains in power, but he has been reduced, if not also weakened in terms of being able to exercise his will and whim. This talk will address why many—most of the mainstream media, as a matter of fact—got the trend wrong, and what this could mean for India, Indians and the subcontinental in the coming months and years. It will also touch on the US Presidential elections later this year, and the significance of the US-India relationship in relation to both US candidates.
Sankarshan Thakur is one of India’s most experienced and respected journalists. In a career spanning four decades, he has been on the ringside of major national and international events and reported from far corners of India and the world. Essentially a political journalist based out of New Delhi, Thakur has specialised in reporting Kashmir and Bihar, two of India’s more volatile states. He is also a columnist and writer with a formidable body of work to his name. Between 2019 and 2023, Thakur headed the national correspondents’ network for The Telegraph, a leading English daily published from Calcutta. Thakur is currently Editor of The Telegraph and divides work between New Delhi and Calcutta.
