Prime Minister Narendra Modi joined his first-ever podcast with co-founder of Zerodha Nikhil Kamath, sharing his views over two hours of discussion on varied subjects. On the issues which were discussed, whether money is necessary in politics is the question put forth by Nikhil Kamath.
He drew an analogy with the startup world. He said, “If the youth of the country wants to join politics, they say it requires a lot of money which we don’t have. In the startup industry, when we have an idea, we take money from our friends and family. This is called seed round. How will it happen in politics?”
PM Modi responded with a childhood anecdote. “I am reminded of an incident of my childhood. There was a doctor in my village. He was a good eye specialist. He took great care and was also a good orator. He was also fluent in Hindi Gujarati. He decided to contest election as an independent candidate.”. I was a member of ‘Baal Sena’ and would go around with flags. He would collect a one-rupee donation from the people to contest election. In a public meeting, he presented the account of how much money he got. I think he spent only Rs. 250. He won by a very narrow margin.
Reflecting on the anecdote, he emphasized, “It is not true that society does not acknowledge truth. You should have patience and dedication. You should not have the attitude of a ‘contract,’ meaning that you do something only for votes. With such an attitude, you cannot succeed.”
Politics Beyond Elections
PM Modi also talked about the wider aspect of politics, and how there should be a change in the thinking that restricts politics to only the election of representatives. “We need to come out of this politics limited to electing MPs or MLAs. If we are associated with any work related to the society, it creates a greater political impact. If anyone runs a small ashram and educates girls.”. Even if he/she does not contest elections, but the effort creates a political impact,” he explained. He added, “It is needed to look at politics from a bigger canvas. In democracy, a voter is in a way a politician. A voter applies his/her mind while casting vote.”
