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Vajpayee himself had said that Narsimha Rao was the true father of India's nuclear programme. When Rajiv Gandhi formed the secret committee, Narsimha Rao was India's foreign minister and he was kept informed about it. This turned out to be fortunate as he was able to take it forward when he became Prime Minister. This story is told in detail in the book "Half Lion" which is a biography of Narsimha Rao. The book also refers to Shekhar Gupta's interview with Narsimha Rao shortly before he died.

Sir, If at all a ranking is to be given among all CTC episodes so far, this episode stands first rank. I felt very much proud how our scientists worked hard secretly , dedicatedly to keep our nation safe and secure by producing nuclear arsenal as deterrent, and the top bureaucracy supporting them in every way. Another interesting factor was the Politicians support , whatever their idealogy may be, and their party affiliations may be , their action to support the cause in the interest of nation was commendable.

Simply beautiful. I am proud of our democracy. I am delighted to hear this CTC.

I feel so proud listening to this story....... May God bless each and every soul involved in this work.... everyone right from its conception to the final outcome......and may God bless our country 🙏

truly phenomenal operation...shekar ji, i beg you to a 2 hr documentary on this. If you can get all the visual or audio aids etc, and takes too much effort, dont bother...just your narration on this subject will hold us glued and fill us with pride...Thank you for marking this wonderful anniversary...please do seriously consider doing a longer version. To do justice to the great men and women who were part of this....Phenomenal is an understatement!!! 🙏🙏🙏

Dr. Anil Kakodkar is a Konkani by birth. He hails from India's smallest state. He spent years across many geographies. It's remarkable to see him lead such a vital program.

Naman to our patriotic bhoomiputras - Atalji, Kalam sir & rest of our scientific team 🇮🇳

The journey of Pokharan 2 is an account of how mature our democracy is. We kept the biggest secret hidden in that time when we had worst political instability.

Prime example of what happens when people in power keep nation and its interests ahead of politics enimity. Kudos to the team who worked pull of this miracle. Wishing you luck for more achievements 🎉

Oh Brilliant saga … kept me gripped all through .

Just love it when Shekhar sir goes into story mode.

In India , we may fight brutally amongst ourselves, but when it come's to motherland, no one gives second thought about what's best and necessary for the country. I think, this has made all the difference.

I requested this few weeks back and today SG delivered. Thanks a lot.

That's out of the box from regular rasgullas you give to your guest. Excellent from @ThePrint .

... a Beautiful Presentation indeed Sir . As a student of Physics , i happen to know that preparing for a nuclear test and covertly takes a lot of time and effort . i have heard people say that they could have done the test earlier . Unfortunately, they are laymen and should not be blamed , rather they should be politely corrected . Preparing for a nuclear test is nothing like building a new fighter jet , it is far more complex and an extremely complicated matter , especially if one is trying to do one covertly.

Thanks Shekhar for this wonderful recap of the events leading finally to the nuclear tests! A glorious chapter in our recent history.

There's a visible difference between narration of a cut the clutter episode & a national interest episode. While cut the clutter is more of a spontaneous news reading, National interest is written down and is read as is. This episode of CTC is like National interest.

Got goosebumps while listening this! Salute to all who were involved!!

We love you SG, Thanks for bringing this episode, should have been a 2 series episode, you cut it really short.