lucknow author of lucknow boy vinod mehta was at his wittiest best as he took the stage on the second day of lucknow literature carnival as expected mehtas session was a blend of anecdotes quips at self and friends secrets of bollywood stars tarun tejpal and political talk the onehour talk was ably conducted by another lucknow boy saleem kidwai known for his frank and fearless opinions mehta said its almost inevitable that narendra modi will become the next prime minister and added hastily i say this despite being labeled a congress chamcha sycophant he said modis rise is more due to inept leadership of sonia gandhi and her son rahul than his own merit the veteran editor predicted that modis ascendancy to the pms post would be bad news for english media which has been after him since gujarat riots mr modi is not a man who forgets and forgives for years english media including outlook which mehta edits has criticised him so our jobs would be in peril if he becomes pm he said mocking the news channels he said 50 of their content should be taken as joke they also serve entertainment along with news he said and quipped i speak rubbish on tv debates yet im called again with great pride mehta shared he was the first person to start the trend of drinking during prime time tv debates the enticing session was punctuated with applause and laughter from the audience as he kept serving them anecdotes one after another mehta told the gathering that sequel to his bestselling memoir would be released after general elections when saleem kidwai asked him why the need for a sequel prompt came the witty reply the idea came from bollywood sequels talking about his biography of actor meena kumari the outlook editor said he did not change a word when the book was rereleased recently 41 years after its first publication i admire meena kumari for her openness be it her affairs or drinking habit the most striking aspect of her personality was her sexuality mehta said when asked about tehelka editor tarun tejpal vinod mehta described him as incredibly talented but did not defend him