Anand Ranganathan Draws Attention towards Growing “Cult Mindset” on the Right, Compares It to Leftist Ideological Uniformity

On May 6, 2026, ANI released the 8th edition of its podcast series popularly known as the “Real Samosa Caucus,” hosted by Smita Prakash. The discussion featured Sushant Sareen, Tehseen Poonawalla, Anand Ranganathan, and Abhijit Iyer-Mitra.

The conversation covered several political and international issues, including the recently conducted Assembly elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Assam, the Iran war, Donald Trump’s political influence, Pakistan’s global standing after the war, and the condition of the Hindu community in West Bengal. During the discussion, Anand Ranganathan spoke about what he described as the growing ideological uniformity in political discourse on both right and left. 

Anand Ranganathan began by arguing that labels such as “right” and “left” are often oversimplified and said people now carry a greater responsibility in public discourse. According to him, a culture of ideological conformity that earlier existed largely within the political left is now increasingly visible among people on the right as well. He said, “the infection that existed in the left is now slowly coming into the right too.”

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“People just want one kind of uniformity, you know. And I saw that two weeks ago when I very casually, and correctly, said that what Modi is doing in terms of what he considers freebies is exactly what Kejriwal, Rahul Gandhi, and everybody else are doing,” he said.

He cited the backlash he received after comparing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s welfare policies with those of leaders like Arvind Kejriwal and Rahul Gandhi. Ranganathan said many people defended the BJP government by arguing that the “delivery” of welfare schemes was better, but he maintained that the core political approach remained similar.

“A lot of logical people were saying, ‘No, but look at the delivery of the freebies,’” he added.

He also referred to the criticism faced by Ajit Bharti — journalist and right-wing commentator — saying that disagreement within ideological groups is increasingly being treated as disloyalty. According to Ranganathan, “these things earlier used to happen on the left. ‘Total submission.’ You are supposed to keep only one view. Logical illogical doesn’t matter. We have seen it, man — defend everything till the last man, till the last idea. The left does it phenomenally for everything.”

He argued that a similar trend is now emerging among sections of the right wing as well.

He also added, “Ajit is not a communist, okay? He simply has a point of view on something where he differs with the government,” while highlighting the growing demand for ideological uniformity within both left- and right-wing circles.

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Speaking about West Bengal politics, Ranganathan admitted that he wanted Mamata Banerjee removed from power, but questioned why repeated incidents of violence and law-and-order breakdowns continue to occur despite the BJP-led central government being in power for more than a decade.

He questioned why stronger action, including the possibility of deploying the Army or imposing President’s Rule, was not considered in situations where violence escalated. Drawing a comparison with Manipur, he noted that President’s Rule had been imposed there within months of unrest.

Who is Anand Ranganathan?

Anand Ranganathan is an Indian scientist, author, and political commentator. He studied Chemistry at St. Stephen’s College before moving to University of Cambridge, where he completed his higher studies and PhD in Natural Sciences.

After working at Cambridge as a post-doctoral researcher, he returned to India and worked for 16 years at the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology. Later, he joined Jawaharlal Nehru University and became a Professor in 2019. His research mainly focuses on diseases like tuberculosis and malaria, and his scientific work has been published in several international journals.

Apart from science, Ranganathan is also known for writing and appearing in television debates on politics, media, and social issues. He has written for Swarajya, Firstpost, and Quartz, and is also the Consulting Editor of Swarajya. He has authored several books, including The Land of the Wilted Rose, For Love and Honour, The Rat Eater, Soufflé, and Hindus in Hindu Rashtra.

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