00:00So let's get you the latest images that's coming in of voting in different pockets of America.
00:05Here in India, when we speak of elections, we put a great deal of focus on the voter turnout and
00:09then read into that to understand which way the result could actually go.
00:14I mean, looking at that, it's quite disappointing when you compare it to India's elections, where you'll see long queues
00:19outside the polling booths.
00:20But Geeta, this is the normal in America.
00:22This is absolutely normal, Akshara. This is how it looks. Also because in India, voting opens and then it shuts
00:32at a given time.
00:33In America, you have early mail-in votes. You have early voting.
00:39So there are many centers that would have opened up yesterday and people go at their own time and pace
00:46and vote and leave.
00:47So you don't have long queues, waiting, trying to say, OK, I'll go in the morning and stand in queue.
00:54And also the population, of course, is a difference. But because there are so many ways of voting, you don't
01:01see long queues.
01:01And yes, that's how it looks, voting in America.
01:05Very, very different from really how the voting takes place in India.
01:09And those images are also very different from what we're used to, where we look at the long queues and
01:13kind of draw our analysis of whether that's a good sign or a bad sign for the incumbent.
01:18Rohit, do those discussions happen in America as well?
01:21The vote to turn out equals good news or bad news for the incumbent?
01:28Rohit, I think you're on mute.
01:33Rohit, I'm so sorry. Apologies.
01:34But the three ways in which America votes, as Geeta was pointing out, the mail-in ballots, we've seen 54
01:39billion of those already votes being casted.
01:41Using that and early voting centers, some of them opened two weeks ago.
01:45The important thing, it's only 8 a.m. in the East Coast.
01:49And you will see those queues, Lakshita, you were talking about, late in the night.
01:53A lot of people go to work, they leave their work, and you'll see a lot of people in queue
01:58standing late in the night to be able to cast their votes.
02:01But I'll add one quick bit here.
02:04I've been at this center for an hour and a half.
02:06The most number of voters I've seen are the women voters, the suburban women voters, that actually shift these races
02:14towards Democrats.
02:14That's a quick observation from the ground here in Washington, D.C.
02:18Okay, the women vote, crucial, I'm sure, in America as it is in India.
02:22But let me just for a moment focus really on what this particular midterm election means for India.
02:28Pranay, there's been a lot of talk about whether Trump is good or bad for India.
02:33And so obviously if there is a referendum in favor of him or against him, that's something that will affect
02:38India as well.
02:40Largely if you see the scheme of things for Trump administration.
02:44If President Donald Trump loses both House and Senate, then there should be a different ballgame for him.
02:49And to take forward his policy, then he should be looking more forward or he should be consolidating friends.
02:55And, you know, in current scenario, he's left with few friends.
02:59So that's why we may see a certain shift.
03:02We have seen certain fillers in recent weeks where President Donald Trump called Prime Minister Modi as his great friend.
03:09given fillers that, you know, there will be an early conclusion of India-U.S. bilateral trade agreement.
03:15There could be some concessions.
03:17Even on Lindsay Graham Act, there is a concession offered towards India.
03:22India is a big market, both in terms of the defense products, in terms of, you know, trade between India
03:28and United States.
03:28And both Trump administration and Prime Minister Modi's administration has set a very ambitious target of $500 billion bilateral trade
03:36in the next five years.
03:37So even in those terms, it is going to be important.
03:40But we may have to see, you know, how things will traverse because, you know, we are talking about, you
03:45know, certain scenarios where the impeachment possibility is there.
03:48But to remove a president, one need to have 67, you know, Senate members, that is going to be a
03:54very difficult number, even for Democrats to pull out.
03:57And that remains a reality.
03:59So we have to find, we have to see, because this is not for the first time any president would
04:04become lame duck.
04:05In fact, during his previous tenure, President Donald Trump lost House majority by 41 seats in 2018.
04:14But still he continued.
04:16But this is a different ballgame, just because personal stakes are involved.
04:21President Donald Trump has pursued very different policies this time.
04:24And we have to see, you know, how he takes forward those policies after losing control,
04:30because he himself has said that this election is going to be very important.
04:35And, in fact, the Trump dividend I mentioned, he said that if we retains the Republican majority in House and
04:42Senate,
04:42then I'm going to give Trump dividend of $5,000 per adult.
04:47You know, I'll also highlight here, what we're going to talk about is also the kind of funding that has
04:52been pumped into these midterms.
04:54Number one in that spot, by the way, is Elon Musk at, I think, $400 plus million or something like
05:00that, that he's pumped in to this midterm.
05:03So very, very clear, once again, of how American politics is also dominated a whole lot by these business leaders,
05:11by corporates who have a big say in what happens next in these elections as well.
05:16But let me just put the focus on the main contenders here.
05:19I know everyone's been spotlighting one face, and that's of Donald Trump.
