Indian Constitution: A Conversation with Power | Dr. Gautam Bhatia & Arnav Mathur | LAOT Podcast

What happens when a Constitution promises rights, but the systems built around it keep concentrating power?In this episode, LAOT host Arnav Mathur speaks with constitutional scholar Dr. Gautam Bhatia about his new book, The Indian Constitution: A Conversation with Power. The book reframes the Constitution as a map of power, showing how its design and interpretation have enabled what Dr. Bhatia calls the “centralising drift.”The discussion unpacks the idea of a “Franken-Constitution,” the limits of courts and popular constitutionalism, and the unspoken “constitutional common sense” that shapes outcomes. It also asks a difficult question: can India’s Constitution still imagine a more decentralised, plural future?