The "Gen Y" Netas....

There seems to be a convergence of political and economic philosophies around the world. For Indian voters loyalties based on caste, religion and language are paramount. It will probably take several generations and a much larger scale of urbanisation to mould several population together. For example, in a relatively cosmopolitan Mumbai, one cannot imagine a Hindu winning an election in Mohammed Ali Road or a Muslim winning in Dadar. Political parties have not yet been able to play a role in bridging the divisions in society, in fact they leave no stone unturned in creating them. Therefore its become all the more imperative now to have new ideologies, new outlook and for politicians to have human side to them. The younger politicians definitely come like a whiff of fresh air in the average above 60+ Indian pollitical arena. Out of the parties today, Congress seems to have this young politicians brigade.

Sachin Pilot:
For the Wharton Business School educated, son of Rajesh Pilot, politics is a new subject. Sachin Pilot wanted to fly planes, but his bad eyesight prevented from joining the Air Force although he had a commercial pilot licence. Now he is on a different plane and trying to make a difference for people in his constituency. He is media-savy and is seen on various platforms and according to me he makes sense while he is talking. One doesn't get the feel that he is speaking the typical "political" language.

Milind Deora:
Son of Congress veteran Murli Deora, management graduate from Boston, loves music and occasionally strums the guitar at local hotspots. He has taken a major step in Mumbai infrastructure development and works with a NGO called Sparsh. He also hosts a talk show on a radio channel and he really makes sense on that too.

Jyotiraditya Scindia:
For him, entry into politics was an accident following the untimely death of his 'royal' father in an air crash. He is one of the youngest of the Parliamentarians and was elected to the Lok Sabha from his father's constituency Guna in Madhya Pradesh, with awesome margin of more than 4.5 lakh over his immediate rival. For the Congress, Jyotiraditya was a natural choice not because the voters of the constituency had unstinting loyalty towards the Scindia family but also the young Scindia's exposure to politics right from his teens and his understanding of the problems of his people. He is a management graduate from Harvard.

What a today's voter needs is "Gen Y" netas, people who have the courage to ask the question "why" and be proactive in being able to bring about the change. Being young is not about the age, but its all in the mind. For people who believe in party politics a lot, I hope all these politicians from any party are able to create a difference. As for me what matters is youth are no longer being considered a liability...