As political debates are most fractious and the country is in the middle of a five-state election campaign, Express Adda hosted the man who was once the youngest president of the country’s largest political party and now a heavyweight within. Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Mr. Nitin Gadkari was the guest at Express Adda on Friday, April 15 at Tote on the Turf, Mumbai.
Mr. Gadkari, who has built a formidable reputation in his party and in the power corridors of Delhi, shared his views on state and national issues. The guest took questions ranging from issues of irrigation and water problem in Maharashtra, to the development of Mumbai post trust and inland waterways along the coast.
The discussion moderated by Vandita Mishra, National Opinion Editor, The Indian Express, saw the minister deftly handling questions related to the suspension of AIMIM legislature from Maharashtra assembly, the JNU incident and Rohith Vermula’s suicide in Hyderabad.
The event saw the financial capital’s matterati including corporate leaders, policy makers, diplomats and artists, among others present in the audience.
Among the guests, who attended this adda event were Ramautar Jhawar, Director, ASA Agrotech; Ashok Bharadia, Director, Wallfort Financial Services; Vijay Biyani, Director, Future Retail, Aanshul Misra, Citi Bank Specialised Trade Sales, Asia Pacific; Adil Gandhy, Owner, Chemould Frames, Ambi Parameswaran,Founder Brand-building.com; Ashok Tandon, member of Prasar Bharti Board ; Ayaz Memon, Sport Columnist, Hiren Ved, Director & Chief Investment Officer, Alchemy Capital management, Jayant D Mhaiskar VC & MD, MEP Infrastructure Developers Ltd; BJP leader Shaina NC; Joshua Ebenezer, Director, Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan Attorneys; Nitin Dossa, Executive Chairman, Western India Automobile Association; P. Krishnamurthy, Sr Corporate Advisor GRT India; Poonam Dhillon, Actor; Rana Kapoor, CEO & MD, Yes Bank; Rashesh Shah, Chairman & CEO, Edelweiss Group; Shailesh Gandhi, RTI Activist; Sharad Kr Sharaf, Chairman, Technocraft Industries (India) Ltd; Shailesh Haribhakti, Chairman, DH Consultants; Shibani Kashyap, Singer; Umesh Agrawal, Director Advisory-Grid of PricewaterhouseCoopers; Vivek Suchanti, MD, Concept Communication; Yatin Shah, Executive Director, IIFL Private Wealth Management among other guests.
The Adda, now a keenly awaited fixture on the social calendar of Delhi and Mumbai, has earlier featured politicians Kapil Sibal and Arun Jaitley, superstars Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan, ambassadors Richard Verma, cutting edge filmmakers Anurag Kashyap and Dibakar Banerjee, sportspersons Saina Nehwal, Viswanathan Anand and Virat Kohli, and intellectuals Dr. Amartya Sen, Thomas Friedman, Martin Wolf and Fareed Zakaria among others.