Youth Trend in Indian politics

Indian political scenario is slowly changing. Though illiterates & criminals are still thr in large numbers, the young MBA graduates are taking it up as another career option.

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More and more management graduates enter politics
Tue, Apr 14 10:32 AM

New Delhi, April 14 (IANS) This is not a decision taken in haste or forced by the current economic recession. More and more management graduates are entering politics, saying this is their way of serving society.

'While being in the corporate world, one can't serve society completely. Politics is an area where you can do a lot for the society,' said Ranjan Kumar, a graduate of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM)-Lucknow.

Contesting from the Mohanlalganj constituency on the outskirts of Lucknow in the Lok Sabha elections beginning Thursday, Kumar told IANS that he hopes to change the country's 'corroded' system.

'Most politicians have not done much for the country. The majority of the people sit outside and criticise the government. But if one wants to change the system, one has to be a part of the system,' said Kumar, who recently left the Congress to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Asked why he switched loyalty, Kumar said: 'I have seen the Congress very closely. When Rahulji (Rahul Gandhi) joined politics, people thought a transformation would take place. But despite the Congress revival plan in Uttar Pradesh formulated in June 2004, nothing has moved.'

The 38-year-old IIM graduate is also an elected vice-chairman of the Mansarovar Cooperative Bank, Lucknow.

Harsh Vardhan Chhaparia, a graduate from IIM-Calcutta, will be interning with the BJP before he switches to his high-profile job.

'I chose politics and especially the BJP because I am impressed with their vision for youth. Moreover, I want to learn how public management works. What better place can I find than in politics,' Chapparia said.

The trend is not new to this industry.

Some five years ago, Sachin Pilot, an MBA from Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania, joined politics, winning on the Congress ticket from Dausa in Rajasthan.

'It was a well-thought-out decision and not taken in haste. Whatever I have learnt could be best (given back to society) through politics,' Pilot said on telephone as he campaigned in his new constituency of Ajmer.

Pilot is happy that more and more young people with professional backgrounds are embracing politics.

'It's time the system changes... There needs to be self-regulation. Muscle and money power should be done away with,' Pilot said.

Of all the newcomers in politics from the world of management, the prize catch for the BJP has been its IT cell chief Prodyut Bora. An IIM-Ahmedabad graduate, Bora joined the BJP in 2004.

'Politics can be a platform to do some good work. The political system has failed to attract youngsters in public service,' Bora told IANS. 'The image of a bad, ugly Indian politician needs to change.'

So why did he opt for the BJP? Bora answered: 'Well, I am a nationalist.'

What are his future plans? 'It all depends on my party.'

IIM graduates entering politics can take inspiration from Meera Sanyal, who made a transition from a banker to a politician. Sanyal, the country head of ABN Amro, decided to give up her banking career and contest elections from the Mumbai South constituency as an independent candidate.

It was the Mumbai terror attack that led her to join politics. She is pitted against Milind Deora of the Congress, a business and political science graduate from Boston University.

Another prominent management graduate in politics is Jyotiraditya Scindia, who studied in Harvard and Stanford. He said he chose politics over the corporate world to 're-energise the system and do well for society'.

(Pupul Dutta can be contacted at pupul.d@ians.in)

Pupul Dutta
Source:http://in.news.yahoo.com/43/20090414/836/tbs-more-and-more-management-graduates-e.html
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Youth can change image of Indian politics: Advani

New Delhi: Underlining the need for changing the image of the "ugly Indian politician", senior BJP leader L K Advani today said one way of making this possible was by encouraging more young people to join politics.

"I tell my fellow politicians, particularly those belonging to my own party, that it is our duty to erase this image of the ugly Indian politician ....it is necessary for the best and the brightest among the youth to join politics and serve the nation," Advani said.

He was speaking at a seminar on "National Values Crisis and its Redressal" organised by the Foundation for Restoration of National Values.

The 81-year-old leader cited Transparency International s annual reports where India ranks high in the corruption index and the United Nations report in which India ranks low in the Human Development Index. He held responsible the lack of professionalism among politicians as the reason for this state of affairs.

"Politics was a noble profession during the freedom Movement... After Independence, the spirit of mission got gradually diluted... Unfortunately, in India today politics is seen neither as a mission nor as a profession, but as pure commerce," Advani lamented.

However, the senior leader pointed out that it was not just in politics that the values had gone down. "The lack of integrity and professional ethics is seen among lawyers, judges, doctors.... And even security personnel. It is seen even in the media," Advani said.

BJP s Prime Ministerial candidate said though the intelligence quotient of an individual could develop lifelong, his emotional, moral and spiritual quotient developed mostly between the age of 15 and 25 years.

"It is necessary for the young to join politics and serve the nation," he said.

Source: http://news.indiainfo.com/article/0811181357_youth_can_change_image_of_indian_politics_advani/243566.html
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Youth And Politics: Divorced Forever?

The Indian youth is experiencing what is called as the depoliticisation process or in simpler terms, a disengagement from the world of politics. There’s growing apathy towards political activities and politicians from the youth these days owing to the domination of politics by crime and corruption. Due to the lack of an efficient political system in the country and its contamination by felonious and iniquitous acts, youngsters prefer veering away from politics.

However, it was a different story altogether in the early days of India’s independence. India has given the world great, young leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, Gandhi and Bhagat Singh, who all fought with utmost passion and patriotism in the nation’s freedom struggle.Infact, the greatest uprising of our country against the British forces i.e. The Quit India Movement was led valiantly by the Young Turks.

In the post independence era around the 1980’s, the Indian Youth Congress was founded and its objective was to unite the youth of India, to identify itself with their cause and to work with devotion to build a strong, powerful and self-reliant India. Also, the National Youth Day was declared on the birthday of Swami Vivekananda in the year 1985, who was a young spiritual leader who contributed immensely for the welfare of the society. However, such is the scenario today, that one is hardly aware about the existence of any such day.

With materialism being the by product of liberalization, Indian markets as well as the youth is becoming vested in its interests. Values like patriotism and love for one’s country is on a decline as the youth are turning towards MTV, McDonalds and Money making. Also, the interest of a few motivated souls is disillusioned due to the dismal performance and personalities of the current politicians. As a result, the youth has become cynical and pessimistic in its attitude towards politics. Nobody wants to become a politician nor does any parent want his or her child to venture in this field.

The trust and credibility factor which was the USP of the yesteryear politicians is nowhere to be found today. We then had charismatic leaders and today we have criminals in the guise of politicians. However, this is not reason enough for the youth to be disenchanted from politics. After all, world’s greatest wars and rebellions have been led and fought by the youth. The Fascist programme insisted on tapping the vitality of youth, even Hitler created the ‘Hitler Youth’ and endowed the German youth with a purpose. From Tienmian Square to India’s freedom struggle, youth have carried the baton of their beliefs with unflinching courage.

Even the recent past has witnessed some impetuous movements by the youth like the candle march in the Jessica Lall murder case, protests against reservations in educational institutions by the Government and the popular Pink Chaddi campaign against the tyrannical ways of Promod Muthalik. In fact, the emergence of young promising leaders like Rahul Gandhi, Sachin Pilot and Omar Abdullah have instilled some life and dynamism in Indian politics giving youngsters the hope that ‘All is not dark out there. Leaders like Omar Abdullah are believed to bring about a new vivacity in the valley in his regime with attitudinal changes being evident in the voting patterns observed in the recent J&K elections.

However, in order to reinvent the zeal of youngsters in politics, certain measures are imperative. Indian political system does not offer any incentives to the youth to engage in politics. Also, it is shameful that until and unless one belongs to a political dynasty, he/she has to face immense resistance in this field to become a MP. Politics is in any case seen as a very dirty career full of cut-throatism and back stabbing and on top of that there is absolutely no premium placed on community leadership in our country which forms an integral part of US educational curriculum. The existing political exposure at the university level is petty and driven by the selfish interests of national level political parties. Candidatures are selected not on the basis of capability but the closeness the candidate shares with the major political leaders. As a result of which campuses are no better than deserted islands on the polling day which speaks for the dirty muck dominating college and university level politics.

But the only remedy for this disease is exercising our power to vote and discharge the duties of a responsible citizen. One has to traverse the hard way in order to bring about a change for the better. Until and unless we do not put our hands in the muck, it will stay there forever and stagnate even more. Passing the buck won’t help. Almost every field today has its bit of muck, it is just that politics is not as glamorous and convenient an option to opt for.

The media can play a great role in motivating the youth to join politics. Attitudinal changes need to be brought about by reporting of positive changes and developments in politics and not just negative or cynical news stories. By covering events where the youth has helped in shaping the course of important political issues, the media can compel changes in the existing mindsets.

Our youth should be inspired by their American counterparts who have brought about a revolution in American politics by electing Barack Obama, a young Afro-American leader as America’s President. In fact, Internet and technology played a major role in influencing this historical event. Presidential debates were facilitated by means of sites like You Tube where the American youth were given a forum to address their concerns and queries to the Presidential candidates which proved to be a huge success.

Similarly, steps like facilitating voting via text messages or Internet can further help in engaging the youth. A big factor for Obama winning the elections was that his ideas and values gelled with the imagination and hopes of the youth. An organization like Youth Congress should invent ingenious ways to reignite the interest of youngsters and actively involve them in the country’s political process. It is said that ‘In every year of history one law has invariably proved its unchanging truth: youth will always triumph over age.’ This rhetoric can surely be turned into reality if the youth desires.


Akshuna Bakshi

Source: http://theviewspaper.net/youth-and-politics-divorced-forever/
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Why the educated youth must join politics... the hurdles... and why they need to lobby for a better judicial system to make their dream a reality...

Arindam Chaudhuri, Editor-in-chief, The Sunday Indian


In the backdrop of the Mumbai terror attacks, there has been a lot of talk about the need to go and vote... the need to elect the right government... the need for educated youth to come up and join politics and the need for a new political force that can bring about the real change. This topic is something that’s very close to my heart, as ever since I can remember, may be since I was eight years old or so, I remember my father always told me that it is not politics which is dirty, but the people in politics who have made it dirty; and that politics is the biggest service to a nation that one can think of; something that able and educated men with leadership skills should always think of keeping in the forefront of their ambition list. As a response to my workshops on the Great Indian Dream, as well as to my editorials – especially the ones criticising the government, and more especially the last two on the Mumbai blasts – many people have sent me messages: why criticise; why not try to be the change!

Yes, the truth is, I have personally always believed that politics is where the educated youth should be. Some of my published interviews, which date back to as early as 1997, stand testimony to the fact that I myself had wished to be a part of the political process sometime in my life – my students from the ‘94 batch at IIPM and onwards would vouch that that is the truth, because they have heard me say so time and again. What’s also the biggest truth is that, year after year, when my students come and ask me where should I want to see them fifteen years or so down the line, without an iota of doubt, this has always been my answer – in politics! And parents of our students who have heard me speak at the orientation programme at IIPM or at the convocation programmes at IIPM know that that has always been my advice for their children... for I know one of the biggest strengths at IIPM is our super combination of entrepreneurial and management education, along with sharp and incisive education in economics – some things our politicians have always lacked! Either our leaders have been great managers with no understanding of economics leading to disaster, or our leaders have been great economists with no clue about management and leadership, and, therefore, have spelt disaster. To me, one of the stories that unforgettably describe India’s tragedy is about ‘The mother of India who had two sons.’ One knew how to run (the country, that is) but went to fly and met his end; the other knew how to fly, but went to run and met his end. Symbolically, that has always been India’s problem – misallocation of resources and incapable leaders at the top; and that’s why I have always considered our students to be great resource material as future politicians of this country with the perfect mix of education – for management education doesn’t always mean only focusing on how to maximise private profits. That’s not to say others aren’t capable, but just because I am personally involved with teaching IIPM students, through them, I want to show my faith and passion in my belief in the role of youth in politics.

Well, having said how passionately I believe that the clean and educated youth in India should be a part of politics, I must also say that unfortunately, the government has created a system that is non-conducive for clean people to enter politics. It doesn’t allow the youth with the passion and education to just jump in and start making the change; because if they were to do so, they would only end up being disillusioned; or worse, a part of the corrupt system itself. It’s because elections in this country are neither fought with passions and policies nor with candlelight processions. Elections are fought by motorcycle brigades with guns in hand. The truth is that Indian politics is not fought with ideology, but with muscle power and ruthless rigging in the interiors. Indian politics is a hierarchy of criminals and goons. At the grassroots, a local MLA wins through a bunch of goons. On top of a few such MLAs sits the MP; and on top of such mostly criminal and corrupt MPs sits the Prime Minister. And that a man sitting as the Prime Minster could be a poet, a literary genius, who knows 17 languages or an economist, but the reality is that he sits there because his party has a hierarchy of criminals; and the stronger this criminalisation is at the grassroots level, the tougher it is to defeat them – West Bengal being a case in point. You can be a big leader – say an Uma Bharti – but the moment the system of criminalisation that you sit upon and win elections with is gone, you are reduced to a nonentity. Even a cosmopolitan state like Delhi has no place for educated, clean people. Only those who get key party tickets have won over the years.

Yet, we know – and should believe – that one day, the educated must take over this system... One day, the youth must come forward and make the difference... But before clean and honest youth can come forward, we need to give the youth the environment to fight on the basis of policies and passion and not on the basis of guns. And for that to happen, we need a very very strong and powerful judiciary that is alive and not paralysed... A very strong judicial system that stops criminalisation of daily life and weeds out the criminals from the system, and sees to it that criminals cannot fight elections or win them through rigging... and instills fear in the minds of the criminals through a quick process of justice! But surely, not the way it is today – a process of endless delays and inefficiencies! And these are issues we at TSI have been relentlessly lobbying for since our inception. The other option is, of course, a Constitutional change that brings about a Presidential system in India – again an issue we at TSI have lobbied for in the past – so that like in the USA, the Indian leadership can also be determined on the basis of debates and policies.

Until we can achieve either of the two, the need for educated and clean people to enter politics will unfortunately remain more of a slogan; for the environment is, I repeat, unfortunately not conducive for them to make any dent. Yet, I must say, they must not give up the hope. They must come forward and lobby for the right changes – and a strong judiciary is what should top their list and agenda. And if they keep their focus right, and fight for the correct causes, they will one day make the system conducive for the big change. I have personally always believed, “If you think you can, you are right!”… I am sure the time is not far when one amongst the educated and clean people will be bringing about change in this country... a change that we too can believe in... And at TSI, we will keep lobbying and doing our bit to make that change a reality.

Source: http://www.iipmthinktank.com/asp/editorial.asp?cdis=21/12/2008&pageno=1
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Concern for Varun Gandhi

Indian Youth express legendary figure, Varun Gandhi the youth iconic personality emerging budding star of Indian politics put under stringent calls of NSA by the Mayawati government in UP.His fan writes,”Varun is innocent. He is the youth icon of India. Political parties are unnecessarily spoiling his image and putting charges on him. I am against the NSA charges and other charges which are on Varun. He is the true voice of India. The youth is actually disheartened because of what all is happening to Varun. He should be released now.”

Varun Gandhi popularity can be gauged by the write-up and bloggers coloring unmatched ink for their youth icons and at every nook and corner people are expresing the Varun story expressing sympathy for the son of legendary family puttting him incinerator with vote catchers, few in process of dousing the contentious issue and filter the righteousness.

With youth forming the major
chunk in India’s population and internet in vogue the Varun Gandhi emerge hot spot in General Election 2009.He is scripted in Indian history on subject of emergency 1975 imposed at the nehest of his father by grandmother former premier,Varun is controversy of imposition of the NSA by the state government in election time on Sanjay Gandhi son in year 2009 adds another historical event which couldl change the political scenario in the country with youths coming out to vote for their ideal candidate in turn for their respective party candidates.

Nation likely to go for poll with more than 70 percent voters casting their vote with advertisement by NGO in print and electronic media along with government adds may help to achieve more percent in this year of poll feat appears accomplished for the democracy to have its deep roots.

Source: http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/concern-for-varun-gandhi_100175355.html