A closer look at ‘young achievers’, however, reveals that a berth in the corridors of power remains a domain of those with a political lineage.
Mandate 2009 has been firmly in favour of the youth. Over two dozen ‘young’ (below 45) Congress candidates, virtually hand-picked by party general secretary and ‘poster boy’ Rahul Gandhi, won by handsome margins.
A closer look at these ‘young achievers’, however, reveals that a berth in the corridors of power remains a domain of those with a political lineage.
In fact, only six of the half-a-dozen young Congress MPs — Meenakshi Natarajan (Mandsaur, MP), Ashok Tanwar (Sirsa, Haryana), Jitendra Singh (Alwar, Rajasthan), Manish Tiwari (Ludhiana, Punjab), Vijay Inder Singla (Sangrur, Punjab) and Manick Tagore (Virudhunagar, TN) — have come up the ranks in the last decade or so.
Last year, Rahul, who is also in-charge of the party’s frontal organisations, such as the National Students Union of India and the Indian Youth Congress, decided to conduct elections for the first time in the Youth Congress’ history in Punjab.
The exercise was seen as a move to establish democracy in the organisation and include those without political lineage. Interestingly, Ravneet Singh ‘Bittu’, grandson of former Punjab CM Beant Singh, became the first elected president of the Punjab Youth Congress. Rahul handpicked Ravneet to contest from Anandpur Sahib. He didn’t disappoint, winning the seat by over 66,000 votes.
Rahul’s team of candidates with no political lineage sprang many a surprise. Natarajan humbled eight-time BJP MP Laxminarayan Pandey by over 30,000 votes, while Delhi-based lawyer Tagore, who was air-dropped in Virudhunagar at Rahul’s behest, beat MDMK chief Vaiko.
Most other young faces are sons, daughters or relatives of Congress veterans. Jyoti Mirdha (Nagaur, Rajasthan) is the granddaughter of Congress veteran the late Nathuram Mirdha, while Mausam Noor (Malda North, WB) is the niece of another veteran Ghani Khan Chowdhury. Shruti Chaudhary (Bhiwani, Haryana) is the daughter of Kiran Chaudhary.
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