New Delhi:

Having started practising law nearly 30 years ago and then retiring as the longest-serving Chief Justice of India in over a decade, Justice DY Chandrachud did not only get a ringside view of how courts function but also helped shape jurisprudence in the country with a string of important judgments, including on electoral bonds, the validity of Article 370 and same-sex marriage. 

On Wednesday, the former Chief Justice sat down for a wide-ranging interview with NDTV in which he spoke about everything from how he almost became an economist and the paltry fees he got for his first case to the criticisms levelled against judges and the Supreme Court.

Justice Chandrachud also addressed a colleague’s remarks of him being harsh on a former judge of the Supreme Court and spoke about the need for revisiting and overturning earlier judgments – even those by his father and former Supreme Court Chief Justice YV Chandrachud.

Early Days

On a question about his experiences and what he learnt from his father, Justice Chandrachud said his first choice was to pursue a post-graduate degree in Economics. Later, when it seemed like he would remain a lawyer for the rest of his life, his father told him he would support him no matter what he did. 

“Law was not my first choice, to be very honest. I graduated from St Stephen’s College in Economics and Mathematics. And, after I completed my BA, my first choice was actually to pursue a Post-Graduation in Economics at the Delhi School of Economics. But, as destiny would have it, I joined the law faculty and then there was no going back. My father, of course, was a very important source of influence on my life, not just in terms of the law, but in terms of learning basic values, the ethical values, which are associated with life. That generation of judges and lawyers was very strong in their foundational principles,” the former Chief Justice said. 

Stressing that his father made time for his family and never imposed his view on them, Justice Chandrachud said he also left it up to him to choose his career path. In their later years, he said, his father was more of a friend to him, and that friendship continued till the end. 

“And when the call of higher judicial office came to me – I was asked to become a judge when I was just 38 years old – and my appointment was not coming through for two years, I thought, well, it’s time to get on with the law and be a lawyer for the rest of my life. And when I looked at him (my father) for advice, he said, do as you please, and I’ll support you in whatever you do. Perhaps, he said, you will do equally satisfying work and fulfilling law work as a lawyer at the bar,” Justice Chandrachud said.

The former Chief Justice also said he had the good fortune of belonging to a generation when some of the “greats of the bar” were still active. He said he learnt immensely from Fali Nariman, Soli Sorabjee and K Parasaran. He also praised former Solicitor General KK Venugopal, calling him “extraordinarily brilliant” in both commercial and constitutional cases. 

First Fee After Harvard

Justice Chandrachud said he learnt a policy oriented approach to law at Harvard Law School and also got educated in policy as a student of Economics at Delhi University and at the Campus Law Centre in Delhi. Professor Lotika Sarkar, he said, gave students like him the “first groundings” in feminist jurisprudence when people were not talking about feminism in law in the 1980s.

The Harvard Law degree did not, however, have much of an impact immediately after he returned to practice. 

“I realised this to my disappointment when I got my first brief as a young lawyer in the Bombay High Court. I had an SJD from Harvard Law School, which is a Doctorate in Juridical Science, and my first brief was a little docket to mention before a division bench of the Bombay High Court. I asked the solicitor: ‘How much do I mark on the docket, what is my fee?'” he recounted. 

“Fees in Bombay in those days were marked in GMs, which is gold mohurs, and one GM was 15 rupees. So the solicitor looked at me and said, ‘You know, for this particular work, the ordinary fee would be five GMs, which would be 75 rupees. But since you are first appearing before the high court, I will give you six guineas for this case.’ So I realised that, notwithstanding a Harvard PhD, what I could mark in those days was about 75 rupees or 90 rupees in the mid-eighties,” he said. 

“So, life teaches you so many good lessons, you know? And you realise that a good academic degree is important, but it is not everything in itself when you actually join the profession. But Harvard benefited me as time went on… When I became a judge and started writing about the law and not just speaking about the law, I realised what an imperceptible impact Harvard had on my way of thought as an individual. So a lot of things are not so perceptible when you first join the profession, but the impact of what you’ve learned emerges later on in life,” he added. 

Electoral Bonds

The former Chief Justice said that when he was a judge at the High Court, there was comfort in knowing that there was a higher court that could correct any inadvertent errors. That was not the case with the Supreme Court and that was one of the reasons why no case in the top court was ever easy.

“Because when the Supreme Court speaks, it speaks for the present, and it speaks for the future,” he said.

Elaborating on one of his most important judgments, the scrapping of electoral bonds as a method of political funding, Justice Chandrachud said a judge is aware of the ramifications of the judgment but applies intellectual rigour and the basic principles of law to arrive at a verdict. 

“For instance, when you decide a case like the electoral bonds case, when it opens, you are conscious of the ramifications of what you are deciding and you are conscious of the impact which the case will have on the polity in the long run – it is obviously something which is present to the mind of the court. But when you are deciding the case in terms of intellectual rigour, you are applying the basic principles which are associated with that body of law. So, in the electoral bonds case, we were applying fundamental principles of manifest arbitrariness or the need for transparency in electoral funding,” he explained. 

These principles, he pointed out, have been developed over decades and judges are conscious that what they are deciding now will impact society in the future. 

“And that constantly reminds you, as a judge, to be humble. Humility is something you learn as a judge of the Supreme Court because you are conscious of the fact that the field of knowledge is so vast, and it’s far vaster than any of us as judges or lawyers can fathom,” Justice Chandrachud noted.

The former Chief Justice also highlighted how judging can be a very lonely task. 

“When arguments close, that’s the time for reflection for a judge. When a case is concluded in terms of arguments and you reserve a case for judgment, that’s when the real process of judging starts because then you are just left to yourself. There is no one else with you but your papers. And, in our case now, this is a digital format, so the digitised files and yourself. So, in that sense, judging itself is a very lonely task,” he said. 

Overturning Father’s Judgments

To a question on a former top court judge saying that the Supreme Court is “supreme but not infallible”, the former chief justice summed up his thoughts succinctly, saying: “The Supreme Court is final not because it is right, but it is right because it is final.”

This, he explained, was the reason why some past judgments of the Supreme Court were relooked at and overruled, including in 2024, when he retired as the Chief Justice. The former judge said this did not necessarily mean that the judgments were wrong – they may have been right in their context but may not make sense in today’s society. It was this, he said, that led to him overruling two judgments delivered by his father.

“For instance, you know, there was a judgment of Justice Krishna Iyer on property, which we recently had a look at again. The Supreme Court had said that because the individual is a member of the community, every property which belongs to the individual is property of the community in the context of Article 39 (b) and (c).  Now, this judgment was delivered in the context of the society when it was delivered – a very tightly regulated economy, central planning. All that changed after 1990, when the market reforms took place,” Justice Chandrachud said. 

He continued: “Between 1990 and 2024, India has evolved as a society, as an economy. So,  intrinsic to the work of the Supreme Court is the ability to relook at the judgments of the past. And, in that process, I overruled a couple of judgments delivered by my own father. But that’s part of the judicial process. Incidentally, they happen to be judgments of my father, but I would have done that anyway as part of our constitutional duty.”

Emergency

Addressing remarks by a colleague that he had been unduly harsh to a former judge, the former Chief Justice explained that some of what was attributed to him was not in the judgment and could have been in a draft circulated to other judges. 

“Well, for one thing, some of the words which are attributed to me as having been actually said in the judgment are not in the judgment, for the reason that maybe those observations were there in a draft which was circulated to colleagues… And, in this case, after a very well-meaning colleague requested me to look at that particular observation, I deleted it from the judgment. But how you phrase the judgment is, again a perception of that individual. And I don’t believe that to say that a judgment is ‘wrong’ or ‘terribly wrong’ is harsh,” he said. 

Pointing to the ADM Jabalpur case during the Emergency, which dealt with the suspension of rights – a judgment to which his father was a party – Justice Chandrachud said strong statements were made when it was overruled because the judges felt strongly about it. 

“We overruled that initially when we decided the Puttaswamy case where we decided the right to privacy. When we decided Puttaswamy, we said that the judgment was terribly wrong because the right to life and personal liberty does not originate in the Constitution. Even if there’s no Constitution, human beings in a civilised society, in a democratic society, have the right to life and personal liberty. The Constitution recognised the right to life and personal liberty, and, therefore, we overruled that judgment,” Justice Chandrachud said. 

“And, while we overruled it, we were also conscious as judges of the excesses which took place in the course of the internal Emergency which was declared in 1975, because those were the years when I was growing up. I had just entered college then and we were deeply conscious of what had happened. So when we responded to ADM Jabalpur and overruled it, we didn’t do so by saying very simple words that there was a constitutional error or there was a legal error. We were very, very strong about it because you feel strongly about an issue,” he said. 

Justice Chandrachud also pointed out that judges should be able to state how they feel about an issue. 

“I don’t think that there’s any harm in a judge giving vent to how strongly they feel about the issue, using parliamentary language… It’s not just youthful angst, I think (it is) constitutional angst because I just felt that we had to overrule the judgment,” he stressed. 

Social Media, Limited Attention Spans

When he was in office, Justice Chandrachud had spoken about the criticism of judges on social media and its use by vested interests.

Asked whether this kind of scrutiny made a judge’s job tougher, the former Chief Justice said, “Of course. Because, in the age of social media, everything that is said in court now becomes a part of a public dialogue…. Now every little word which is said by the court or by a judge in the course of an argument is on social media the next moment. The real challenge is that a lot of conversation which takes place in the court in the course of the hearing of a case does not reflect the final judgment. But, you know, our attention spans are so limited today – down to 20 seconds on social media – that people don’t understand the distinction between a dialogue in a court and the final judgment of the court.”

He also said the criticism is sometimes “extremely irrational” and without any basis in concrete material, but judges have to face the new normal.

“True To Conscience”

Justice Chandrachud said he spent several sleepless nights as a judge, thinking about judgments and dealing with administrative files. He shared that there is also a great deal of reflection and a judge always questions himself, even before delivering a judgment. 

To a question on senior lawyer and Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi writing in a newspaper that Justice Chandrachud “was 90% right” and he should not be trolled, the former judge said what matters to him was that he had worked to the best of his ability. 

“I would think that it’s for others to judge my work. For me, what mattered was that I was true to my conscience and I did my work to the best of my ability. But it’s for others, today and tomorrow, to assess the work, to critique the work, and decide whether it has made a difference to society. For me, it was (about) if the individual cases which we decided made some difference to society –  whether it was, you know, having women in the armed forces. I just love it when I see a picture of a woman fighter pilot or a woman on the battlefront or women in warships. Because I realised that has been transformative to have women in the armed forces. So that’s the degree of personal fulfilment which you have as a judge,” he said. 

“And the future, always, will take its own call. Sometimes the present can be very complimentary, as Dr Singhvi was very graciously complimentary. Sometimes the present can be uncharitable as well to judges. But, I think, once you are away from the present zone of conflict and the polarity of views, the future decides on the contribution of a judge a little more objectively away from the zone of conflict and the conflict of ideologies,” he stressed. 

Judicial Evasion?

The former Chief Justice also spoke out strongly against charges of “judicial evasion”, saying the Supreme Court does not have full strength. The pressure of work, he said, is enormous and picking a particular case is always difficult because a Chief Justice has to balance constitutional issues and smaller cases that can have a big impact on individuals.

“It would be uncharitable to the Supreme Court to say it evades cases or it evades deciding cases. The court has 34 judges. Today, it’s not a court with full strength. Now there are about 80,000 cases which are pending. This is a great challenge for any head of the institution, which is that do you take up the smaller cases which involve a big impact on the lives of common citizens – maybe a civil appeal, a criminal appeal, a bail application, or do you take up, say, the seminal constitutional cases? Because when five or seven or nine judges are assigned by a chief justice to deal with a constitutional case, they are not dealing with the ordinary work of the court,” he pointed out.

“Now, some balance has to be drawn by the head of the institution on how many judges would you devote to doing the normal or routine work of the court, which is important in itself because you are dealing with the lives of individual citizens. But, equally, this is not just a court of appeal, it is a constitutional court, and you have to devote sufficient resources and human manpower to dealing with the important constitutional cases as well,” he explained.

Justice Chandrachud said that, in 2024, close to 60,000 cases were filed in the Supreme Court – the highest since Independence – and over 59,000 cases were disposed of despite Constitution benches growing. 

“So many of these Constitution bench cases that we decided were cases which were pending for a long, long time in the Supreme Court. And, obviously, you can’t deal with all of them, but I tried to deal with as many as I could. But I don’t think it is really a matter of judicial evasion when a case cannot be taken up by, a court. Some of my predecessors, for instance, if they couldn’t take up a particular case, it was not an act of judicial evasion. It was just because of the pressure of work.”

“It’s only when you are the Chief Justice of India and a judge of the Supreme Court that you realise the enormous pressure of work, just the volume of work – pressure in the sense of the volume of work which you have to handle. So this is a big challenge of how do you balance the two,” he said.

Justice Chandrachud also stressed that the Supreme Court works even during vacations. “I know as a matter of fact that the first victim of a life on the bench is your own ability to spend time with your family. So, I am making up for lost ground now.”

New Delhi:

The National Capital Region is set to get its second major airport in April next year and with the first trial flights scheduled a few days from now at the Noida International Airport – also known as the Jewar airport – NDTV has got an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the frenetic construction activity at the project site as well as details of its design, connectivity and projected passenger numbers. 

NDTV also spoke exclusively to Noida International Airport CEO Christoph Schnellmann, who said their aim is to provide a passenger experience that combines Indian warmth and hospitality with Swiss quality and efficiency. 

The airport is being developed by the Yamuna International Airport Private Limited, a subsidiary of Swiss firm Zurich Airport International AG, in association with the Noida International Airport Limited, which is the implementing agency on behalf of the Uttar Pradesh government. 

Located in Jewar in Western UP’s Gautam Buddha Nagar district, the airport is scheduled to see its first trial flights taking off and touching down in a few days, which will be an important milestone not only in the airport’s development schedule but also in the story of the growth of Indian aviation. The airport was necessary given that the Indian aviation market has seen a compounded annual growth rate of 8.9% in the decade between 2013 and 2023 and because the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi has reached its growth potential.

Design Influences

Mr Schnellmann said design has been a key focus for the company since the project began around five years ago. Local materials have been used and one of the standout design choices is the flight of steps at the terminal’s forecourt, which will resemble the ghats of Varanasi and Haridwar. Reflecting a focus on a climate change-friendly approach, the airport will also use natural lighting and ventilation to reduce its environmental footprint and energy costs.

“We are incredibly excited about the experience we are going to be able to offer our passengers. We talk about combining Indian warmth and hospitality with Swiss quality and efficiency. I think we have been very deliberate about designing the terminal (by) picking up elements of the rich architectural heritage of the region… An airport that is very much at home in north India, in Western UP. The commercial space will feature a large open-air courtyard reminiscent of some of the ‘havelis’ (traditional houses) found in the region,” the CEO said. 

The airport has also been planned as a gateway to tourist destinations in North India, including the Taj Mahal, and for Hindu pilgrimages like the Chardham Yatra, Kumbh Mela, Mathura and Vrindavan as well as the Buddhist circuit of Sravasti, Kapilavastu and Kushinagar.

Number-Crunching

The total area of the project is 1,334 hectares and, in its first phase, 1.2 crore passengers are expected to use the airport every year. The number is projected to increase to 3 crore by the end of the decade and 7 crore a few years after that. 

One runway will be operational initially and, when it opens, the terminal will have 10 aerobridges and three bus gates. There will eventually be two operational runways and while the airport will have 28 spots for aircraft in the apron area initially, this will expand to 200 as the flights and passenger count increase. 

Mr Schnellmann said that the terminal is being built keeping this expansion in mind. 

“The pier can expand to the west to provide further passenger capacity. The building has also been designed in such a manner that it can be mirrored to the east,” he said. 

Road, Rail Links

The airport is connected to Greater Noida, Noida and Delhi via the signal-free Yamuna Expressway. Leaving from Saket at 11 am on Tuesday, it took about an hour and 45 minutes to reach the airport by road. Once an interchange is built from the airport to the expressway, it will take approximately 45 minutes from Noida and 25 minutes from Greater Noida, according to Mr Schnellmann.

The CEO said the UP government is also planning a rail link directly to the airport, construction on which will begin in a year or so.

New Delhi:

Khalistanis may be trying to drive a wedge between Hindus and Sikhs in Canada and hoping that this division spills into India, Indian-origin Canadian politician Ujjal Dev Dosanjh has said. Speaking to NDTV in an exclusive interview, the former Canadian MP and minister said the political class in Canada is in slumber as far as Khalistani violence is concerned and law enforcement authorities leave a lot to be desired.

The veteran leader’s remarks come shortly after a Khalistani mob attacked a Hindu temple in Canada’s Brampton, where a consular camp was being held to help Canadian and Indian citizens who need life certificates for claiming pension in India.

The attack took place against the backdrop of the frosty relationship between India and Canada. Ties between New Delhi and Ottawa are at an all-time low after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused India of engineering the assassination of Khalistani terrorist and Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar. India has trashed the allegations.

Mr Dosanjh described the Brampton temple incident as “unfortunate, unacceptable and condemnable”. He said Khalistani violence has been an issue in Canada for a long time. “It had died down for a while, but with (Justin) Trudeau’s arrival, it has raised its ugly head again,” he said.

The 77-year-old, born in Punjab’s Jalandhar district, said these incidents are not isolated. “Khalistanis have been doing violence against other Sikhs in their temples for a long time. The government and law enforcement haven’t paid much attention. It has spilled over into Hindu temples, partly because consular officers were there.

“Maybe it’s a plan of Khalistanis to try and drive a wedge between Sikhs and Hindus that have lived here peacefully as they have in India. Their effort is to sow some division and carry that division into India. That’s their hope because they want to dismember the country,” Mr Dosanjh said.

The political class of Canada, he said, was in slumber over these issues. “They have not condemned Khalistani violence, not named it, not called it out. Even the denunciations that have come from three leaders now don’t mention Khalistanis, it seems these guys came from somewhere up in the sky,” he said.

Responding to the attack on the temple, Justin Trudeau said in a post, “The acts of violence at the Hindu Sabha Mandir in Brampton today are unacceptable. Every Canadian has the right to practice their faith freely and safely. Thank you to the Peel Regional Police for swiftly responding to protect the community and investigate this incident.”

Asked if Trudeau was in denial about Khalistani violence, Mr Dosanjh said, “Don’t think Trudeau is in denial, he knows what is happening, Khalistanis were in his cabinet, he knows what he is doing. I think he is doing it, because ‘why make enemies’, even if you have thousand votes… Khalistanis, why make them angry.”

Mr Dosanjh said the Conservative Party, the Opposition in Canada, is following the same playbook. He cited the office of Opposition leader Pierre Poilievre canceling its Diwali event.

“There is no mainstream political figure (in Canada) who can stand up and say that Khalistani hate does not belong in this country. (Gurpatwant Singh) Pannu called for the expulsion of Hindus from Canada. Do you believe that if someone asked for the expulsion of Jews, he wouldn’t be prosecuted and investigated?” Mr Dosanjh asked.

Mr Dosanjh, who was a Liberal Party MP and Canada’s Health Minister, said people from both Hindu and Sikh communities attended the consular camp that was targeted by the mob. “The Consular officers were not there just to help Hindus, they were helping all Indians.”

He said the rising Khalistani violence has led to fear in the Sikh community as well and “moderates have simply walked away”.

New Delhi:

Amid the Congress-BJP war over guarantees and the comments by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has said the opposition party promises the Moon, but can’t deliver.

Speaking exclusively to NDTV, Mr Puri drew a distinction between what he called the ‘freebie’ model of the opposition and the ‘labharthi‘ (beneficiary) model of the BJP, which drives development. The minister also spoke about the alleged Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) scam in Karnataka and the derogatory remark made by a Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) MP against former BJP leader Shaina NC, who has now joined the Shiv Sena faction led by the party’s ally, Eknath Shinde. 

On the statements by Mr Kharge and PM Modi over the Congress president reportedly pulling up Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar for his comments hinting at a review of one of the party’s guarantees in the state, Mr Puri said, “A governance model which is successful, which delivers economic growth and welfare to the people is a governance model. Any other model, which bases itself on freebies, or on empty promises not grounded in reality, is not a governance model.”

Attacking Mr Kharge over the use of terms like ‘betrayal’ and ‘jumla‘ for the BJP government’s guarantees, the minister said the Congress leader must have been excited when he got the post of party president, but is now discovering the downsides. 

“Don’t make promises on which you can’t deliver. If you use words like review, it means you are not able to deliver. That is the hard truth. The Congress makes outlandish claims – it promises the Moon, and is not able to deliver, and then it gets caught. If you want to think in terms of imposing a tax on the construction of toilets in Himachal Pradesh, you are in trouble,” Mr Puri sneered. 

‘Writing On The Wall’

Taking a jibe at the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, the minister said that after the loss in Haryana, the Congress is seeing the writing on the wall for the upcoming Maharashtra and Jharkhand Assembly elections and is realising that its “khata-khat, phata-phat” model is failing. 

“So far as prices are concerned, after all the bluff, petrol and diesel are still Rs 10 more expensive in Congress-ruled states than they are in BJP-ruled states. There is a fundamental difference between the freebie models of the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party and the ‘labharthis‘ (beneficiaries) of a scheme like the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and the Ujjwala Yojana,” Mr Puri said. 

“In Punjab, the AAP promised 300 units of free electricity and families have two or three connections and rich people are misusing the scheme. Our model is that you come and get a solar panel from us at a reasonable cost. We will subsidise it a little, then you produce electricity. You can use 300 units for your consumption and the rest can be used for a charging station at your place or put back into the grid and earn some money. There’s a fundamental difference between giving somebody free fish to eat and teaching somebody how to fish so that he or she becomes a productive member of society,” he asserted. 

The minister said he had responded to all seven points made by the president of the Congress, which is “becoming a junior partner (in alliances) everywhere”. 

To a question on Mr Kharge claiming that ‘Modi’s guarantees’, which have been a key plank of the BJP, have become a “cruel joke” on Indians, Mr Puri said the joke is what the Congress is doing. 

“Modi’s guarantee carries weight. Modi’s guarantee carries credibility. Whatever the party has said in all its election manifestos since 2014, it has delivered on each one of them. An additional 4 crore houses are going to be built… on petrol prices, diesel prices, in all the PM’s guarantees, the welfare of the consumer is written in. In their model, they took an oil bond loan of Rs 1.41 lakh crore and we are having to pay back Rs 3.2 lakh crore. Mallikarjun Kharge, the honourable president of the Congress party, is being delusional,” he claimed. 

Corruption

In a scathing attack on the Congress over corruption, Mr Puri brought up the alleged MUDA scam, in which Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s wife was given prime plots of land. 

On Mr Siddaramaiah’s claim that the BJP left Karnataka plagued with “40% commission corruption” and his government had inherited poor fiscal health from the previous BJP regime in the state, the minister asked, “Did he also inherit the MUDA scheme? His wife got about 15 plots, did he also inherit that? They were in the opposition, if there was any act of omission or commission by the BJP, they could have questioned it then.”

“They (Congress) have been tainted by corruption for an extended period of time and when they have to answer questions, they start blaming each other. Now whether it is faultlines between Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar or both of them versus Mr Kharge, I don’t know. The Congress has to sort out this mess,” he said. 

Derogatory Remark

On the remark made by Arvind Sawant, an MP from the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena, against Shaina NC, who is a candidate for the Mumbadevi Assembly constituency from the Eknath Shinde-led Sena, Mr Puri praised his former party colleague for making her voice heard. 

“This kind of vocabulary is not acceptable anywhere. You don’t refer to an opposition candidate, a woman, in those terms. Using a word like that is objectifying a candidate… I would like to reach out to my friends like Priyanka Chaturvedi (an MP from Mr Sawant’s party) or others whom I know quite well… they should stand up and condemn this comment. I think Shaina NC did very well in questioning it. Somebody told me that he has apologised, but I think this needs to be pursued to its logical conclusion. And I’m sure that my sisters and daughters and our mothers in Maharashtra will give an absolutely befitting reply to this kind of misogyny,” he said. 

New Delhi:

Decrying the excesses that had taken place during the period, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has hit out at the government for using the Emergency as a “diversionary tactic” and said that while imposing it may have been undemocratic, it was not unconstitutional.

In an exclusive interview with NDTV on Thursday, the senior leader, who has just been reelected as the MP from Thiruvananthapuram for the fourth consecutive time, also addressed issues like the demand for replacing the ‘sengol’ and the NEET paper leaks, which are set to dominate the ongoing session of Parliament. 

To a question on the Congress and other opposition parties opposing the references to the Emergency by Speaker Om Birla on Thursday and President Droupadi Murmu in her address on Friday, Mr Tharoor asked why something that happened 49 years ago was being “dredged up” so forcefully by the government. 

Accusing the BJP-led NDA of moving the goalposts and either talking about 1975 or 2047, and not about the present, he said the focus should be on burning issues like unemployment, the NEET paper leaks and the situation in Manipur. 

On the BJP using the Emergency to blunt the Congress’ plank that it was trying to save the Constitution, which yielded dividends in the Lok Sabha polls, the MP said, “The irony is that is actually one thing the BJP could not accurately say. I am a critic of the Emergency, but the very fact is that the Emergency may have been undemocratic, but it was not unconstitutional. It was a provision in the Constitution that permitted the imposition of an internal emergency. That provision has since been removed.”

“But it was there at the time and therefore what was done by the government in 1975 was strictly within the boundaries of the Constitution. So for the rashtrapati to say it was an unconstitutional attack or an attack on the Constitution is actually inaccurate in legal terms. I am not supporting the emergency; I think arresting opposition politicians, censoring the press and a number of steps taken were undemocratic steps, but they were, sadly, not unconstitutional steps,” he asserted. 

The Congress leader emphasised that the Constitution had not been suspended during those months and even the 42nd Amendment – which amended the Preamble and is referred to as a ‘mini Constitution’ –  was “passed within the provisions of the existing system”. 

“So I am not saying this is something to be proud of. I don’t think we should be debating the Emergency and politics today when there are more important things to do. But I am just challenging the claim that it was unconstitutional. It was not. It was completely within the Constitution, however undesirable,” he said. 

The ‘Sengol’ Debate

The BJP has attacked the opposition over the Samajwadi Party’s demand that the ‘sengol’ – a sceptre symbolising the transition of power from the British Raj to self-rule by Indians – be replaced with a copy of the Constitution in the Lok Sabha. The demand has also been backed by at least one senior Congress leader, who said that the baton symbolises “kingship”.

When Mr Tharoor was asked about this, he said, “This is a debate I personally don’t wish to enter into because I can see the arguments on both sides – one that it is a symbol of monarchy and we are a republic, and the other saying it is a purely symbolic thing and honours a part of India… And I don’t really want to pick and choose between these two things.”

“I will say, however, that what the Congress Party and the opposition are focused upon are the real issues facing people today, which, certainly include NEET. We are concerned about unemployment, particularly for young people, and we are concerned very, very seriously, about some of the issues the government simply does not want to talk about, from Manipur to the India-China border,” he emphasised. 

Advice For Rahul Gandhi?

Asked if he had any advice for Rahul Gandhi, who is now the Leader of the Opposition and is holding his first constitutional post, he said the former Congress president has emerged as a “considerable leader” in his own right. 

“The turning of the narrative began with the two Bharat Jodo Yatras, particularly the first one, which seized the imagination of the nation and of young people everywhere. He (Rahul Gandhi) moved on from there into this very effective, active campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections of 2024. I think his ability to now frame the narrative in a way that appeals to and attracts large numbers of people is beyond dispute. So I would say that he doesn’t need any advice from the likes of me,” Mr Tharoor said. 

“What he needs is now the opportunity to use the platform of being Leader of the Opposition to set the agenda for the government to respond to, and to ensure that the government is kept on the nation’s business rather than distracting us with what are really not relevant debates. A vast majority of the Indian population was not even born when the Emergency was declared,” he pointed out.

Opposition’s Strength

The Thiruvananthapuram MP, who was once in a race for the Congress president’s post, also said that it is in the government’s interest to focus on cooperation rather than confrontation with the opposition. 

“This is no longer a small number of MPs that you can just roll over with a brute majority. This is a very large swathe of Indian public opinion represented in these elections, and we are talking about 234 members in the India Alliance alone, as well as others who are not affiliated with the government… The problem often is that the government acts as if they don’t really need to consult the opposition and that, I believe, would be very unwise,” he warned. 

New Delhi:

Major Radhika Sen, a peacekeeper who served with the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, was pursuing a career in biotechnology before she joined the Indian Army. Major Sen said it was after she made the switch that she realised there was no better way for her to serve humanity and the country.

Speaking exclusively to NDTV, the Major, who will be honoured by the United Nations with the prestigious 2023 Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award, also said that being part of the Indian Army made the challenges faced by her in the Congo easier because soldiers in the force work in different regions of the country and are exposed to different environments.

Major Sen will receive the award, which recognises a military peacekeeper who has best integrated a gender perspective into peacekeeping activities, from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Asked about the challenge of ensuring that peacekeepers under her command recognised the importance of gender and socio-cultural norms in the country, Major Sen, who served with the Organisation Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), said, “The country has a long history. It has its own culture. It has its own tradition. There are many socio-economic issues that happen. But, I would say, being a part of India, which is a culturally rich and a diverse country, and especially being a part of the Indian Army, helped.

“Because all my soldiers have been working in different regions of the country, and they have served in different terrains, they have seen different environments, it was not really challenging for me to have a team. I would say it was their support and cooperation which has motivated me and helped me to get the information and the concerns of the people better. So, (it was) because we are from India and the Indian Army gives you all the opportunity and exposure possible (that) it was easy for me,” she asserted. 

On rape and violence being used as an implement of warfare in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Major Sen said it is very important for peacekeeping forces to have a gender perspective because it helps build an inclusive and sustainable peace process.

“In any conflict, it is always the women and the girls who are more affected and who face increased risk of abuse. So, I would say, why should any human being suffer? As women peacekeepers, we try and address their concerns and encourage them to raise their voices,” she said. 

The officer explained that they realised that talking to the country’s leadership wasn’t enough and they began to speak to local communities to get a better idea of issues facing the people in the country. 

“We had also involved ourselves into creating awareness about many topics that concern women, like women’s health and education on sexual violence in conflict. We also engaged with people on creating employment training, like baking and tailoring for women and English training for children. So there were multiple things that we tried to do in order to engage with people which could help us address their concerns better,” she said. 

The major also spoke about misinformation spread against MONUSCO and said there were times when they were engaging with people that they had to get into vehicles and return because stones were thrown at them. 

The Major Switch

Major Sen graduated as a biotech engineer and was pursuing a Master’s degree from IIT Bombay when she decided to join the Army. 

When she was asked about what made her make the switch, she said, “I always wanted to serve humanity and India, but I always thought I would I’ll be a scientist and do it. In my last year of college, I applied for an SSB (Service Selection Board), just for the sake of it. And I went for the SSB just to see Allahabad, I thought I will see a new place and, somehow, I just cleared it.”

“I was enjoying studying – I love science. I love to study. It was my parents who have taught me there are many ways of serving mankind and the country, and I think there’s no better way for me to do it than what I’m doing now. And I cannot be happier that I chose this field and it’s just really good to be a part of the armed forces,” she emphasised.

India will become the world’s third-largest economy in the next 10 years of Narendra Modi government, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has told NDTV while outlining the focus areas for the BJP-led dispensation.

Speaking to NDTV’s editor-in-chief Sanjay Pugalia on what would be the BJP government’s economic priorities if it returns to power, Mr Shah said, “I think that between 2014 and 2024, Narendra Modi ji has laid a clear path for the government’s economic policy. Whether it is inflation or budgetary loss or infrastructure costs, we have put all these things on the right path. PSU balance sheets, share market’s situation and acceptability… earlier, there were 2.20 crore demat accounts, now there are 15 crores. Our base has widened.”

The government, he said, had made several policies to transform India into a manufacturing hub. There has been a push to make India a pioneer in emerging sectors such as green hydrogen, electrical vehicles, and ethanol production. “These sectors will drive the global economy for the next 25 years, and India has taken the lead as a pioneer. We will reap its benefits for 25 years. And in the sectors in which we fell behind in the past 25 years, such as semiconductor (manufacturing), defence production, space technology, start-ups, we are closing the gap.”

The Home Minister said the BJP government has given a “human touch to GDP”. “When 14 crore toilets are built, GDP goes up and 14 crore families live with dignity. When 10 crore households get cooking gas connection, 50 crore people live a smoke-free and healthy life. When the Nal Se Jal programme ensures fluoride-free water to 14 crore families, GDP goes up, but his health improves too,” he said.

It is the Narendra Modi government that has given 5 kg ration to every household in its fight against malnutrition, the Home Minister said. “Every household has received power supply, we have built 4 crore homes, we are going to build 3 crore more. So, besides making India a manufacturing hub, we have taken India’s market from Rs 60-70 crore to Rs 130 crore. Earlier, the purchasing power of the people had not developed. But by fulfilling their primary needs, the Narendra Modi government has helped their purchasing power evolve.”

Stressing that India’s economy is on the right path, Mr Shah said, “We will need to step up the speed and facilitate PLI (Production-Linked Incentives), flexible approach, free trade agreement, trade in rupees, free atmosphere for share markets. I am very optimistic that in Narendra Modi’s third term, India will become the third-largest economy of the world,” he said.

India went from the 11th largest economy to No. 5 in the past 10 years after “10 years of stagnancy” during the UPA era, Mr Shah said. “Atal ji left it at No. 11. Manmohan Singh kept it at 11. Modi ji took it from No. 11 to No. 5. I believe that in the third term, we will go to No. 3,” Mr Shah said.

Mr Shah is on the last leg of his extensive election campaign, as the Lok Sabha polls near the seventh and final phase, scheduled for Saturday. A total of 57 seats are going to polls in the last phase. Results will be out next Tuesday – June 4.

The BJP is set to win most Lok Sabha seats in eastern and southern India this time, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has told NDTV in an exclusive interview. Mr Shah was speaking to NDTV’s editor-in-chief Sanjay Pugalia on the campaign trail ahead of the last phase of the general election, scheduled to be held this Saturday.

Asked what are his expectations for Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Mr Shah replied, “We will take a significant lead in Bengal too. We may win between 24 and 30 seats (out of 42). In Odisha, our target is 17 Lok Sabha seats (out of 21) and 75 Assembly seats (out of 147). In Telangana, we will win around 10 seats (out of 17). As for Andhra Pradesh, our alliance government is going to form the government and NDA is will win a big chunk of Lok Sabha seats too.”

Already the dominant force in the North and West, the BJP is pushing hard this time to expand its footprint in the East and South, where several states are ruled by the Opposition parties. Odisha and Andhra Pradesh are also voting in the Assembly polls alongside the general election. In Odisha, the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD government is seeking another term. As for Andhra Pradesh, the BJP has tied up with the N Chandrababu Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party to give a tough fight to the ruling YSR Congress.

“In the eastern zone, comprising Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha, we will emerge as the biggest party. This is certain. And in the five states of the South, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, we will win the biggest party among all states,” he said.

To a question on whether “Ab ki baar 400 par” was just a slogan or a target based on facts, Mr Shah replied, “When we won the 2014 elections under Narendra Modi’s leadership on the slogan of absolute majority, many political analysts from Delhi had said this was not possible. But we got absolute majority. Then, in 2019, when we gave the slogan of ‘300 plus’, people said it is not possible. People are saying the same this time. But I think they will believe us in the next election before ‘400 par’ is happening this time.”

A total of 57 Lok Sabha seats are going to polls in the seventh and last phase of the election on Saturday. Out of these, 26 are in the eastern states of Odisha, Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand. Counting of the votes will be held on June 4.

New Delhi:

Hitting out at prominent leaders who switched to the BJP, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has said the ones who left were not rooted in the party’s ideology. In an exclusive interview with NDTV, Mr Kharge said, “They would move around with Rahul Gandhi. He ensured that they get ministerial berths, helped them create a political identity. Now suddenly, they remember Ram Temple?”

Asked about these leaders’ claim that they were not growing within the Congress organisation, Mr Kharge said, “Those who were not rooted in our ideology have switched sides. They say they did not get importance here. Are they getting it in BJP? What is their identity there? They switched because they were scared.”

Mr Kharge said the Congress is hopeful of a good show in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls and that the BJP tally reached its high point in the last election. “We will do well in Rajasthan, we won’t score a zero this time. In Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, too, we will get some sears. Last time, we won just one seat in Maharashtra. But this time, the Maha Vikas Aghadi is fighting strongly and will win at least 30 seats. The BJP’s tally is decreasing. They reached their peak, they cannot go beyond that. But we are scoring where we lost,” he said.

Asked how many seats the INDIA Opposition bloc may win, Mr Kharge said that he does not want to mention an exact figure, but “we will stop the BJP from returning to power”.

On Nitish Kumar’s surprise switch back to the NDA, Mr Kharge said, “Such people would have gone at some point anyway. He called people to his home and spoke about an (Opposition) alliance. And then he switched as per his convenience. We are not worried. Those who are ideologically committed are important. If he left after winning, that would have been bad,” he said. Asked if the Congress will be open to accept Mr Kumar back into the INDIA fold if he wants to return, Mr Kharge said, “Such people do not stay. Now he has sworn that he won’t come to this side. They are hungry for power.”

The Congress chief was also asked about Trinamool Congress leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, whose ties with the Congress have been rocky. The Congress and Trinamool are contesting separately in Bengal. Ms Banerjee recently accused the Congress and its ally CPM of being hand-in-glove with the BJP.

Evading a direct reply, Mr Kharge said, “It is not right to talk repeatedly about her. It will be good if she joins forces with us after we win. If she doesn’t, we will strategise accordingly.”

On Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s political role within the Congress, Mr Kharge said she has huge popularity and mass appeal. “Wherever she goes, people come out. People like her a lot, but she cannot campaign everywhere. She has worked very hard. Both Rahul and Priyanka are very hardworking,” he said.

Countering Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “shehzada” jab at Rahul Gandhi, Mr Kharge said, “Modi Sahab is the prince, he changes a kurta every hour and a jacket every two hours. Such people are calling Rahul Gandhi prince.”

Asked who will be the INDIA bloc’s face if it wins the election, the Congress chief replied that the alliance will decide this. “How can we measure the baby’s head before its birth?”

New Delhi:

The need for an industrial revolution in India is something that BR Ambedkar had spoken about because Dalits, adivasis and other disadvantaged classes do not own land and can’t progress by depending on agriculture for their livelihood, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said.

In an exclusive interview with NDTV’s Editor-in-Chief Sanjay Pugalia, the Prime Minister said his experience in Gujarat – where he was the chief minister for over a decade – also helped him understand the need for diversification and reducing India’s dependence on agriculture. 

Some progress may have already been made. The share of agriculture in India’s GDP has declined to 15 per cent in 2022-23 from 35 per cent in 1990-91 due to rapid expansion in the industrial and service sectors, the government had informed the Lok Sabha last year. 

“Babasaheb Ambedkar used to say something very important, and this was ignored by our politicians. He used to say an industrial revolution is very important for this country because Dalits and adivasis don’t own land and can’t do much in agriculture. For them, being part of the industrial revolution is very important. And this is why I think we need to reduce India’s dependence on agriculture. There is a huge burden on it today,” PM Modi said in Hindi.

Laws don’t work for this, the PM said, adding that the way to do it is through diversification. Giving an example, he said, if a family has two sons, one can be in agriculture and another can be a part of an industry, thereby reducing the burden on the sector.

He stressed that industrial development is important to ensure that the agriculture sector remains strong and viable, and said a focus on industries engaged in value addition in the sector as well as diversification is the way forward. 

Recounting his learnings from his work in Gujarat, PM Modi said, “It is a state that does not have mineral wealth, except salt. Gujarat was a traders’ state. There was a drought (‘akaal’) for seven out of 10 years, so we were poor in agriculture. We used to buy goods from one place and sell in another and make money. Then there was a revolution, an agricultural revolution, an industrial revolution. This experience is helping me a lot now.” 

The Prime Minister said schemes like One District One Product are helping with value addition and bringing in technology.

Eye On The Future

The automobile industry and electric vehicles have immense potential in India and his government has also opened up the space sector for increased private investment, which now has several startups leading from the front, the Prime Minister said.

“We were a cellphone importer, now we are the world’s second-largest manufacturer. iPhones are being exported all over the world from here. One out of seven iPhones in the world are manufactured in India. Let me tell you about my experience with diamonds in Gujarat… Eight out of 10 diamonds in the world see an Indian’s contribution in some way. The next stage is green diamonds, lab-grown diamonds, and we will progress there too,” he said.

PM Modi said the semiconductor industry is also coming up in India and the country could emerge as a hub for chips related to transportation.

Another core area, he said, is defence manufacturing.

“Defence production worth nearly Rs 1 lakh crore has started in our country and we have exports worth about Rs 21,000 crore. We used to import everything earlier. Our entrepreneurs now believe they can manufacture, and the world buys from us. So, I believe, India is at the take-off stage in the industrial revolution,” he asserted.