by

Isidore Domnick Mendis

He unabashedly acknowledges his love for power politics, not as a mean of furthering personal agendas but for pay back to society. "Power in politics is achieved by not just being a minister, it is through the clout that you enjoy amongst the people who matter", says the articulate Amar Singh.

Like Jaitley, Singh too, is a post-graduate in law from the Calcutta University. Apart from being chairman of a host of industries, he dominates society columns in the city pages of newspapers hobnobbing with a fawning glitterati. His penchant for hosting parties at the drop of a hat has earned him several friends; Amitabh Bachhan, the Ambanis and other leading families of India are some of his closest friends.

" My perceived closeness to these people is because they have been very good friends of mine and I like to maintain long-term relationships," says Singh. On his close relations with people like Ketan Mehta or B.P. Verma and owner of Flex Industries, Singh, unlike other politicians candidly confesses to knowing these people, but is quick to add, "it is no crime to have a friendship with a tainted person as long as I’m not party to his or her activities." Bold words indeed, that too at a time when politicians are working hard at distancing themselves from shady characters.

Bold words, open ideas and clarity of thought are some of the hallmarks of the new-age politicians. Union Minister of State for External Affairs, Omar Abdullah, barely 31, is outspoken with his views on controversial issues. He frankly admits that the root cause of insurgency in the valley is unemployment and poverty. His stand on the vexed autonomy issue is clear, in spite of being part of a Government that is bitterly opposed to self-rule.

His views on politics are unambiguous. Individual priority according to him often takes precedence over collective and country’s interests. " But at the end of day it is the choice of the individual which matters most, whether he wants to join the bandwagon of corrupt politicians or wants to do something different. Personally, what others do hardly matters till I myself am not a party to that".

Omar was  born in Essex in England and educated in the renowned Sydenhem College (Mumbai) and in Scotland - he is the grandson and son respectively of Sheikh and Farooq Abdullah.  When it comes to vision for his country, he has grandiose dreams of an India free from illiteracy, poverty and more importantly terrorism.

If Omar Abdullah’s entry into politics was to serve the people, Abhishek Manu Singhvi came into politics to increase the bandwidth of straightforward, honest, competent and qualified politicians in a bid to sanitize the systemic decay.

Son of renowned lawyer and India's former High Commissioner to the UK, and potential Indian Presidential candidate, L.M.Singhvi, it was immaterial for Abhishek that his father’s political pedigree lay with the Bhartiya Janta Party. He opted to join Congress as the member of the apex-media committee. Unlike the gulf in the Scindia household that was the outcome of a deep-rooted ideological divide, Abhishek finds that, "at home our political lineage takes a back-seat and we are just any normal father and son".

Like other younger breed of politicians, Singhvi’s vision of an India is a country that has rid itself of its two main scrooges, poverty and illiteracy, and where the legal system, to which he owes special allegiance, is fast, fair and to the satisfaction of all.

Singhvi who remained at the top of his class right through a brilliant academic career, and who also briefly taught Constitutional Law at the Cambridge University in UK, is convinced that politicians can decide the path they wish to traverse, right or wrong. Power, while being a major attraction should not be the end objective for political aspirants.

Citing his own example Singhvi says, "I joined the Congress party when it was not in power. For me politics is a very noble way to serve the underprivileged of this country and also to give a shape to my visions. Whether I have a ministerial seat or not is immaterial."

Another politician, who has shunned a lucrative career to pursue his ideals is, CPIM (Communist Party of India -Marxists) politburo member, Sitaram Yechury. Like Singhvi he too has remained at the top of his class through his academic life. His tryst with politics began as a Masters of economics student in the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi. He plunged into politics to agitate against the Emergency and went on to win the students' union elections in JNU.  Since then it has been a steady climb up the political ladder for him.

His shift into politics came even when several lucrative career options were waiting for him. Spurning these offers he felt that "All that I have studied should be used to change the system, and to do that joining mainstream politics is very important".

Despite never ever fighting elections, Yechury today is the most vocal and recognizable face of his party, primarily because he is media-savvy. While radical in his views, his visions conform with that of his party, ‘an exploitation free society where the political power rests with the vast majority of downtrodden people that this country has’.

Not surprisingly, many of these new brigade of politicians have stayed at an arms distance from the hustle and bustle of electoral politics, except for Omar Abdullah. Most have opted for an entry through the Rajya Sabha. However, when it comes to wielding clout, they stand way above all their contemporaries who have pushed their way in using the appropriate political electoral route. It is their outstanding educational background and the suave, sophisticated face that they offer to the party in these times of growing disillusionment with the political system, that has placed them at the cutting edge of prominence.

They represent a new and changing India, one where politicians are neither overtly idealist nor neck deep in corruption, an India whose politicians are like the common man, basking in the same material benefits that salaried professionals in the country have worked for. Intellectually elite, behaviorally urbane, these young political careerists are deeply committed to the plight of the masses of this country. It is their steering that may help India to rebuild its social capital and to instill in each a vision of a strong and vibrant nation.

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