Q. Telangana is holding its third election since it was formed in 2014. Your party won in 2014 as well as in 2018. Are you confident of a hat-trick?
Yes. My assessment is that my party’s tally will be higher than in 2018. We will go up from 88 to between 95 and 100 of the total 119 seats in the assembly.
Q. Why do you say so?
Let’s look at the benchmarks. The No. 1 benchmark for any state is per capita income. Telangana’s current capita income is Rs 3.12 lakh. Barring small states like Goa, we are No. 1. Telangana was 18th when it was formed in 2014, our per capita income around Rs 1 lakh. Now, it has trebled.
Q. What are the other benchmarks?
The second is the per capita power utilisation. It was only 1,100-odd units in 2014. Now, it is close to 2,200 units, which is double. Utilising energy means progress. The third is reduction of unemployment. When the state was formed, it was over 14-15 per cent; now, it is below 5 per cent. These are government of India figures. Migration was a problem when the state was formed. Now, I can proudly say the situation has reversed. Labour is coming to work in Telangana from over a dozen states, with numbers estimated at over 2.5 million. Our GSDP has grown by nearly three times since the state was formed.
Q. Opinion polls hint at serious anti-incumbency.
Let me be straight—there is pro-incumbency in Telangana. Like when Mr Jyoti Basu and Mr Naveen Patnaik ruled and won many terms.
Q. Then why are you contesting from two seats? Are you worried?
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He gave the beat to the world
He would pick up the rhythms of each experience of mobility and weave them into his taals. Thus it was that he reflected joy and laughter in rhythmic cycles...such was the magic of Zakir's fingersText and photographs by Raghu Rai
KERALA TOURISM CAMPAIGN, 1989 - TICKETS TO PARADISE
All it took was a catchy tagline-'God's Own Country'-for the world to discover Kerala's wealth of natural beauty. It remains among the best tourism ad campaigns, earning the state a place among top 10 international destinations
SPIRITUALITY - THE GURUS OF COOL
Among the cult Indian gurus, no one had a bigger hold on western minds than 'Osho' Rajneesh. He's also perhaps the role model for the enterprise-building gurus of today
RETAIL SHOPPING - THE MALL MANIA
Shopping malls, a 1990s innovation in India, changed the way the Indian middle class shops. Their success now lies in being 'shoppertainment' destinations, offering something for everyone
CULINARY RENAISSANCE, 1978 - TANDOORI NIGHTS
ITC's Bukhara and Dum Pukht turned the world to tandoori cuisine and had an enormous impact on the F&B industry. Decades on, they are still a pit-stop for celebrities and heads of state visiting Delhi
INDIAN WRITING IN ENGLISH - REVENGE OF THE NATIVE
Rushdie lit the way but Indian writing in English has taken a life of its own in the past few decades, with translated Indian fiction most recently having its moment in the sun
INDIAN ART - A BRUSH WITH GOLD DUST
The 1990s economic liberalisation came as oxygen, lighting up the Indian art scene. Today, artworks by established masters routinely go for astronomical amounts
FESTIVAL OF INDIA, 1982 - CULTURE CAPITAL
The Festival of India grew into a symbol of our 'soft power', introducing our art and aesthetics to a global audience while also helping rebrand our domestic products
THE INDIPOP TREND - DISCO GOES DESI
For ages, the film song ruled. Nothing else was audible. Then came Nazia, charioteered by Biddu, and Indian ears went into a pleasant madness. Literally, Disco Deewane. A whole genre was born
SHOLAY 1975 - THE BIRTH OF THE FANDEMIC
India had seen hits before. But Sholay seared into its collective psyche like a badland bullet. The effect was on a scale never seen before- one film creating a new mass folk culture. And a trail of monster blockbusters that still continues
