Opening Doorz

By Martin D’Souza |Opening Doorz Editorial | March 26, 2022

When it comes to facing a barrage of difficult questions, Aaditya Thackeray, Maharashtra’s Minister for Tourism, Environment and Protocol, has proved that he is no novice. He accepted every question from ABP Network’s Romana Isar Khan and hit it with a clean face of the bat, past the bowler. The ones that he found difficult, he scooped it with a swish of the blade over the third slip beating the third man, manning the boundary.

“I watch football, but I play cricket,” he responded to a question about his passion for soccer. When asked when he would marry, he pointed to the clock and said, “The time is up.” The timer read 00:00.

Aaditya was speaking at ABP Network’s inaugural Ideas of India Summit to delve into the topic of India 2047: Vision of a Young Politician. The summit has brought together the brightest brains from diverse sectors to discuss India’s 75-year journey, its present status, and the way ahead. 

Environment, vision and the politics of today

Aaditya also spoke about the environment, sustainability, the vision of the current MVA Government in the state, politics as he saw it from his grandfather’s lap, (the late Balasaheb Thackeray) and the politics of today which is more personal. Never once did he flinch, and even pointed questions from the brilliant Romana, who conducted the session in shudh Hindi, were answered intelligently.

“When we are talking about development, we are including everyone in it. When we are talking about sustainability, we are again doing it ourselves. If we as a human society don’t exist then the talks about development is nothing. If we talk about sustainable development, then I think our nation can go ahead,” he answered detailing the the plans of the MVA Government.

Referring to the use of central agencies, Aaditya said, “As I have said earlier, you see a pattern, whichever states are having their elections, central agencies are being used as a tool to launch the election campaign. Post that, the mud-slinging against certain parties begins.”

He also responded to a query from Romana on the issue of Kashmiri Pandits and the demands to make the movie Kashmir Files tax free in Maharashtra. “In the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits, only one man was standing with the entire community and we are still there with them. On the other hand, the issue of making the film tax free in Maharashtra is only relevant when people are not watching the film. But, on the ground, a lot of people are going to cinema halls and watching the film.”

About ABP Network’s Ideas of India summit

The summit is hosting leaders, visionary businessmen, cultural icons, and civil society pioneers, who will be discussing wide-ranging ideas over 25 sessions, spanning more than 20 hours. The speakers include, among others:

Kailash Satyarthi, Nobel Peace Laureate
Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister
Shashi Tharoor, Congress MP
Jagdeep Dhankhar, West Bengal Governor
Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Former Deputy Vice-Chairperson of the Planning Commission
Dr Rajiv Kumar, NITIAayog Vice Chairman
Neerja Birla, Aditya Birla Education Trust Founder & Chairperson
N.R. Narayana Murthy, Infosys founder
Dr Anish Shah, Managing Director & CEO of Mahindra Group
Sonam Wangchuk, Innovator & educationist
Actors: Aamir Khan, Vidya Balan and Taapsee Pannu
Film directors: Ramesh Sippy, Karan Johar and Kabir Khan
Lawyers: Indira Jaising and Harish Salve
Fareed Zakaria, renowned journalist

ABP Network’s Ideas of India has opened the stage for leaders across the spectrum to discuss the empathy Index, the impact of technology on our lives, sustainable development, the pursuit of happiness, the possibility of a $5 trillion economy, and a new governance agenda. It will also discuss the spirit of entrepreneurship, the freedom paradigm, the emergence of the Alpha woman, the brand ‘Made in India’, the importance of mental well-being, and most importantly, India’s place in the changing world order. 

The summit is presented by Wild Stone, associate partner Nerolac Paints, wellness partner Himalaya and state partner Government of Chhattisgarh.

About ABP Network

An innovative media and content creation company, ABP Network is a credible voice in the broadcast and digital sphere. It has a multi-language portfolio of news channels reaching 535 million individuals in India. ABP Studios, which comes under the purview of ABP Creations—the content innovation arm of the network—creates, produces, and licenses original, path-breaking content outside of news. ABP Network is a group entity of ABP, which was incorporated almost 100 years ago and continues to reign as a leading Indian Media Conglomerate.

Also Read: Uddhav Thackeray: The Common Man’s Chief Minister!