On the one hand, Modi wants to appear to be just like an ordinary person.

He keeps emphasizing that, you know, he was born very poor

and he used to work as a tea cellar on the railway station and blah, blah, and so on.

And so on the one hand, he emphasizes that on the other hand,

he loves nothing better than to hobnob with the rich and the powerful, right?

And show himself as rich and powerful. So he's everything and is contrary at the same time.

Hello and welcome to Politics Theory Other. My name is Alex Doherty and my guest today is Radica Desai.

On January the 22nd, the new Ram Temple in Atapadesh was consecrated

in a ceremony led by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The event kicked off Modi's election

campaign that was widely expected to lead to a landslide for Modi and the BJP. Instead, the Hindu

Nationalist Party lost 63 seats and the opposition coalition led by

Congress made significant gains. In today's episode, I spoke with Radica Desai about the causes

of the electoral upset, the image and reality of the Indian economy, and what the election

results announced in June might mean for Indian Muslims.

Today's episode is brought to you by PTO's supporters on Patreon and also by Verso Books,

who have lots of great left-wing titles perfect for PTO listeners.

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The climate crisis has propelled nuclear energy back into fashion. Its proponents argue we already have the technology of the future, and that it only needs perfection and deployment.

In nuclear is not the solution, M.V. Romana demonstrates why this sort of thinking is not only naive,

but dangerous. Nuclear power will slow our response to climate change

and increase the risk of weapons proliferation and catastrophe. Nuclear is not the solution,

the folly of atomic power in the age of climate change by M.V. Romana is out now from Verso Books

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