The third edition of The Huddle, The Hindu ’s annual thought conclave, will be held at the ITC Gardenia hotel here on February 9 and 10.
Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu will deliver the Chief Guest’s address on February 10. Other prominent speakers at the event include Sri Lanka’s Leader of the Opposition Mahinda Rajapaksa, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Deputy Chief Minister of Rajasthan Sachin Pilot and Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy.
The Huddle will feature 15 sessions and about 35 speakers over the two days and showcase some of the brightest minds from the world of politics, business, academics, sports, entertainment and the arts. These sessions, which are interactive, are conducted before an invited audience.
The Huddle this year features a host of key political figures and commentators who will share their perspectives on the evolving political landscape of India.
The list includes Krishna Byre Gowda, Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, Karnataka; Ma Foi K Pandiarajan, Minister for Tamil Official Language and Tamil Culture, Tamil Nadu; K.T. Rama Rao, working president, Telangana Rashtra Samidhi; Yogendra Yadav, politician, psephologist and academic; Manisha Priyam, academic and researcher; and Rahul Verma, political scientist and author, among others.
Other prominent speakers from the world of business, entertainment, and sports are Keshav Murugesh, Vinita Bali, Tillotama Shome, Rasika Dugal and Sania Mirza. The Huddle also includes a stand-up act by acclaimed comedian and writer, Anuvab Pal and a session exclusively on celebrating the history of magic in India by John Zubrzycki.
Speaking about The Huddle, Mukund Padmanabhan, Editor, The Hindu , said, “At a time of extreme social and political polarisation, this thought platform hopes to promote genuine debate by providing a place for reflection, for nuance, for evaluating the views of others even as we prepare to re-examine our own. Our larger intent with it is to expand the space for democratic debate and provide an opportunity for speakers and members of the audience to interact, both formally and informally.”
