National

Freshmen Parade

The oldest party gets a youthful edge. And efforts are on to ensure it isn't mere cosmetics.

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Freshmen Parade
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As Jyotiraditya Scindia (37) and Jitin Prasada (34) stepped up to take the oath of office on April 6 in Rashtrapati Bhavan's Ashoka Hall, it was a sign that the Congress was imperceptibly changing, if only incrementally. For MOS commerce—and now MOS power as well—Jairam Ramesh, considered 'youthful' till now, it was "a welcome change". "The 30s barrier has been broken with these inductions," he told Outlook. "Both the government and the party will now gradually get younger. That's the message."

The entry of Jyotiraditya and Jitin—as a young MP gleefully stressed—has also swelled the ranks of the 'younger' Congress ministers in the UPA government: Lakshmi Panabaka (49), D. Purandeshwari (48), Pallam Raju and Selja (both 45) and Ajay Maken (44). And the fact that the 'relatively young' Jairam (54) and Prithviraj Chavan (61) have been given additional responsibilities, and party spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed (52) has replaced Manikrao Gavit (73) as MOS, home, are all indications of a gradual generational shift. Prithviraj, who juggles his job as MOS, PMO, with being general secretary in charge of Jammu and Kashmir, the Northeast and Karnataka, is now also going to oversee the powerful department of personnel and training. Jairam, too, will be doing double duty at Udyog Bhawan and Shram Shakti Bhawan, apart from his responsibilities in the party as secretary.

What makes the recent reshuffle noteworthy is not simply that two MPs in their thirties have become ministers. In the past, too, the Congress had given ministerial responsibilities to younger leaders. Pranab Mukherjee became a minister at 38, Mamata Banerjee at 36, Ghulam Nabi Azad at 33 and Ashok Gehlot at 31. What makes it a defining moment now is that it is a part of the first push since the Sanjay Gandhi-Rajiv Gandhi era of the 1970s-80s to give the party a youthful edge again.

Jyotiraditya and Jitin may be second-generation Congressmen, sons of once-powerful party leaders, but their entry into the council of ministers signals the shaping of Rahul Gandhi's Brave New Congress. This is evident not just from the reactions of the younger elements in the Congress but also from the way Jyotiraditya and Jitin responded to their elevation, pledging themselves to make a difference to the country and party.

Jyotiraditya, a second-term MP from Guna, and now MOS, IT and communications, described IT as the "lifeblood of the economy" and stressed the need to sustain the rapid spread of the mobile network without allowing prices to go up. "It must go down to the last man," he said shortly after he was sworn in.

For first-time MP from Uttar Pradesh's Shahajahanpur, Jitin, seven years old in the party which he entered as a Youth Congress member, this is also payback time. "Sonia Gandhi and the party have given me so much, reposed so much confidence in me that it is time I gave back to the party, and made myself useful to her and Rahul in strengthening the party. I need to help my younger colleagues, empower the youth." Clearly, Jitin sees his role going beyond his ministry.

If Jyotiraditya's elevation is expected to strengthen the party in Madhya Pradesh, an election-bound state where his family enjoys great goodwill, Jitin's being a Brahmin from UP—a state where a weak Congress has been looking on helplessly as the BSP lured away its Brahmin vote—has bolstered his chances. But the speculation in party circles is on why Dausa MP Sachin Pilot was excluded.

If the leadership had decided it would not wait till Rahul became a minister to elevate his young colleagues, then why was Sachin left out, given that he too belongs to an election-bound state, Rajasthan, and represents the beleaguered Gujjars? Many Congress-style stories are floating around—that it would annoy the Meena community (this is something the community itself has denied); that the rival claims of Santosh Bagrodia, a three-time Rajya Sabha MP and industrialist from Rajasthan, won the day—money is, after all, key in an election year. And that Faridabad MP Avtar Singh Bhadana, also a Gujjar, threatened to resign if Sachin was accommodated.

Whatever the truth, ever since Rahul took over as party general secretary last September, the party has begun to acquire a youthful bloom, a certain edge. His statements on the need to "democratise", end the "nomination culture", increase accountability and ensure transparency in the functioning of the party has set the cat among the pigeons. Initially, cynical members of the old guard dismissed them as the enthusiasm of a new entrant to politics—one senior leader dubbed the ideas as "nonsense".

This mindset stems from the fear of the emergence of a possible challenge to those who draw their strength merely from their proximity to Sonia, the Congress president. "It would be desirable if members of all party committees—from the block committee to the cwc—were elected. It'll strengthen the party," a key central minister told Outlook. But then added, "The flip side is it may lead to party fragmentation. To stop it, Soniaji has to assert her authority, but that would mean meek state units. We need a strong central leader and strong state units. So, how will we strike a balance?"

It is this challenge that Rahul is now trying to take up. He has undertaken what is being described as "a pilot project" in reintroducing democracy to the party. Since there is little he can do at the moment to change the party, he is trying to make a start by changing the ad hoc way the YC and the NSUI function. At the last meet of the Group on Future Challenges, sources said Rahul "focused" on the methods the YC and the NSUI used to raise membership and democratise its working, hinting that eventually he will seek to replicate that in the Congress.

Indeed, there is a new buzz about the Youth Congress headquarters on Delhi's Raisina Road: it has not just got a physical facelift, but the membership drive that was the focus of its activities over the last year is over. For the first time, names of 50 lakh-odd members are on a database. This, of course, is short of the 2.5 crore target that was set. YC president Ashok Tanwar—a Dalit—says, "Rahulji's taking over as general secretary has given the YC prominence and made the leadership take it seriously. This is the road to youth empowerment."

Rahul has also introduced the concept of "open membership". At many of the public meetings he addressed recently in Orissa and Karnataka, a counter was opened to recruit anyone who wished to without going through the usual rigmarole. And then there is the option of online membership. Simultaneously, he set up a 17-member committee, which included senior party leaders with YC backgrounds and young MPs, to interview thousands of YC members countrywide to widen the talent pool.

So is Rahul's Brave New Congress finally moving to becoming a reality? His turning down the job of MOS in the PMO shows he takes the task of rebuilding the party seriously. Whether that's enough only time will tell, but there is certainly a new vigour in Congress' Gen Next.

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