What: Calcutta Club The Telegraph National Debate presented by Camellia Group

Where: Calcutta Club lawns

Motion: This house believes politics is about the states and not about the nation

Verdict: The motion was narrowly defeated by a show of hands, the 3,000-plus audience voting for the nation of India rather than the states of India

VICTOR BANERJEE, moderator

Victor’s witty interjections drew the laughs. One wicked observation that drew loud cheers was...

Bengal is where we worship the holy cow, we serve beef in our restaurants, barbecue pork chops on our lawns, while all the time being economically ruled by the largest population of elitist vegetarians in the world.

@abdullah_omar
You’ve been an amazing audience Calcutta. Great to see a full house & a very involved audience at the Calcutta Club/Telegraph National Debate.

@sanjaynirupam
Participated in The Telegraph National Debate in Kolkata. Motion was Politics is about states not nation. Opposed the motion @ttindia

@sidharthnsingh
Participating at Telegraph Annual debate at #kolkata . Good experience

FOR

AJAY MAKEN

When we say politics of the state, it does not mean that politics of the state is against the politics of the nation. In reality, politics of the state is politics of the nation. Power and resources should be decentralised from top to bottom, in order to have a better democracy. And when we talk of decentralisation of power, why should we stop at the states? Why can’t we say politics is that of villages, of cities, of the state? National parties with strong state leaders will survive. But for national parties, also for the Congress party, I very strongly feel that decentralisation of power needs to take place. This high-command culture has to be done away with. Unless we have decentralisation of power in the national parties, including Congress party, I don’t think we have a very bright future ahead.  

 

BABUL SUPRIYO

We, the state and the Centre, we are chosen, rather we are married, by the people, for the people, of the people… I think there is a time when a marriage has to deliver. You know, you get married and remain married for five years, and you don’t produce a child, your mom and dad are going to ask you… we all know that, we have faced it…. You cannot fight divorce and produce children at the same time…. It is the collection of the states that make up the nation, true.... Ours is a three-tiered system, where the central government, the state government and the urban local bodies need to work together, in my musical terms, in symphony, creating music, not political noise, in the ears of the people, who have long been tired of listening to blame games…. 

 

RITABRATA BANERJEE 

I learned in the colonies of Jadavpur... that theory without practice is lame and practice without theory is blind and very unfortunately when a country like ours, where unity in diversity is the key thing and politics comes into play where the states are denied their rights.... The unity of opposites is very important, whatever political idea maybe there, because India, that is Bharat, is a union of states. This unity in diversity and this union of opposites is important if we want to uphold the idea of India, if the idea of India has to be strengthened, if the idea of India has to be carried forward.... And because in a country like ours two countries exist within a country, a shining India is there and a suffering India is there. 

 

OMAR ABDULLAH

I do not believe that strong states weaken a Centre. In fact, I believe that you cannot have a strong nation unless you have strong states, but states can be weak if your Centre is overly powerful or overly interfering. Nobody is saying that to strengthen states you have to take away the powers of defence, currency, communication or foreign affairs from the Centre. And what is this about ‘I have to be an Indian first and nothing else’? Is it a zero-sum game? Does it mean that just because I am an Indian I cannot also be a proud Kashmiri? We can be so many different things. It has to be about the states, but being about the states doesn’t have to be against the nation so long as we know where the lines lie…. India is too large and too diverse for one size to fit all.

 

AGAINST

ABHISHEK BANERJEE

Do you wish one thing for Bengal and one thing for India? Are your aspirations for Calcutta different from your aspirations for the rest of the country? That is why the framers of the Constitution conceived of our Constitution as federal, rather than making it unitary. I feel extreme pity and shame when I see petty politics intruding in the path of growth and development. I feel pity when the states are neglected and denied their rights of development. Politics should always be inclusive. And when it is national politics, it has to be inclusive…. India has five letters, I-N-D-I-A. More specifically, it is four, because there are two ‘I’s. India today has 29 states and seven Union Territories.... You can’t spell or pronounce a single one without using the letters I-N-D-A. 

 

SANJAY NIRUPAM

I stand against the motion, because I am a desh bhakt. Because I am a staunch nationalist. Because I don’t want to see India in any danger of breaking up. Politics was initially a means for social service. But in our country, politics has become a means for grabbing the kursi. The way politics is being practised in the states is becoming extremely competitive. And when politics becomes extremely competitive, that can go against the best interests of the country. Politics of states should not be at the cost of national interest. When the UPA was in power, our government had put forward a proposal for FDI in multi-brand retail. Mamata didi, who I know personally, opposed it. Why? Because West Bengal was headed for elections, she went against national interest.

 

JITAN RAM MANJHI

Only a strong Centre can protect the country and the state. There are many countries in this world whose plight we have seen because they lacked a strong government, a strong Centre and a strong leadership. It is true that India is divided into many states. Our language, culture, appearance and even the geography are different and in such a situation if we have to talk about state politics then the state will speak for itself. It could be possible that one state will talk about its interest, which might clash with the interests of another state. In such a situation if there is no unity at the Centre, if we don’t do politics of the Centre then... no one can save India from breaking up. So it is my hope and belief that we need to engage in the politics of the Centre. 

 

SIDHARTH NATH SINGH

As a nation we look at the states and we come together and I call it a nation state. If we look at the states independently, we aren’t. There will be geographical boundaries, there will be dispute over waters, there will be dispute about resources and if you do not have a strong Centre or a nation, how do you resolve it? It may lead to war or aggression and that situation can culminate into a kind of a position where it is not retrievable. The only thing that retrieves this situation is a strong Centre or a strong nation, because it provides certain laws which are universal. A strong nation does help to protect the rights of the citizens better. For a strong state it is important to have a strong Centre. The bottomline is: India first. We need to look at nation first, India first. 

METRO VERDICT 

Ajay Maken: Quote of the day (say no to high-command culture) belonged to him. Abhishek Banerjee: The ‘novice’ drew some cheers but if only he didn’t shout. Babul Supriyo: Started well but... Sanjay Nirupam: No wonder he’s on all TV channels, all the time! Ritabrata Banerjee: CPM has miles to go. Jitan Ram Manjhi: Nothing lost in translation. Omar Abdullah: Man of the match in every way. Sidharth Nath Singh: Great expectations.

 

Suvojit Guha, Calcutta Club president

The debate was extremely successful. People came in expecting regional party members to speak for the motion and national party members to oppose it but the turnaround mixed things up and made it more interesting. We had expected 3,000 people and we have exceeded the number.

Shreya Chitlangia, graphic designer

This is my first time at The Telegraph debate and it was a learning experience. Although I was against the motion at the start, Omar Abdullah and Babul Supriyo convinced me otherwise. 

Ankit Kanoria, businessman

As a young entrepreneur, I needed to know what our leaders think about the country’s future. Omar Abdullah was the best speaker of the evening. I agree with what he said.

Sukanya Roy, Class XI student

This is the first live political debate I witnessed. The best speaker was Omar Abdullah. His speech had content, humour, rebuttals and references, and I liked the way he connected with the audience.