Dancer, lawyer, ten pin bowling champion, cricketer, web designer — the selection made under Rahul Gandhi’s talent hunt programme to choose the Congress’s next line of leadership has brought to fore a whole lot of fresh and young politicians, hailing from a wide range of academic and professional backgrounds. Diversity apart, these young leaders, who were personally interviewed by the AICC general secretary in Delhi, have one thing in common — none of them has any political background or patronage.Apparently, Rahul Gandhi had expressed his displeasure at the existing hero worship and lineage culture in the Congress and had ostensibly declined a ministerial berth in the Government to concentrate on improving the functioning of the youth wing of the party by selecting young leaders purely on merit. Take the case of 26-year-old Manoj Kamble, a law graduate who was selected as National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) leader from Pune. Talking to The Indian Express he said, “I am a Dalit. My father is an ordinary factory worker and I studied in a local college. In fact, I wasn’t even expecting a call to appear for interviews in Delhi. But a couple of weeks after going through the entire procedure, Rahul Gandhi himself called me to say that I have been selected.”Kamble feels that his work as a social activist in Pimpri-Chinchwad area, which is Asia’s largest municipal corporation, impressed the AICC general secretary. “Our area has a number of underprivileged children who don’t have access to education after primary-level. I, along with a couple of friends, organised proper training for these children so that they were able to pursue higher studies.”Rahul Rao, a 27-year-old humanities student from Rewari, was selected as NSUI president of Haryana. Recollecting his experience he said, “The interviews used to take place either at Rahul Gandhi’s residence at Tughlaq Road or at the AICC headquarters. It was an elaborate process. In the first round, Rahulji personally interacted with all the shortlisted candidates. Then there was a group discussion where we were questioned by a panel comprising Congress leaders Meenakshi Natarajan, Mukul Wasnik and Jagdish Tytler. Those shortlisted were called for an interview and a group discussion in the presence of Rahul Gandhi. I was lucky enough to get selected and was personally intimated by him.”Rao feels that apart from his academic background, public speaking skills, integrity, extra-curricular activities and social skills led to his selection. “My father is a government official. No one in my family is in politics. The fact that I have represented Haryana in a bowling championship and C K Nayudu cricket tournament surely helped me get selected,” he added. Deepinder Hooda, Congress MP from Rohtak and a member of the team that is assisting Rahul Gandhi in the selection process, said: “The basic qualities we look for are leadership, integrity, awareness, relevant work experience, some affiliation with the Congress, communication skills, and academics. But a special skill that will enable the individual to grow and also help the party is always welcome. For example, one of the candidates is a web designer. As far as communication skills are concerned, the thrust is not on fluency of language as much as it is on articulation and an ability to strike a rapport with the target audience the potential leader is seeking to represent.”The talent search programme, which was initiated a few months ago, is progressing state by state. It involves selecting leaders for the NSUI and Youth Congress and specifies the maximum age limits as 27 and 37, respectively. Currently, selections are underway in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Mumbai. The selection process is stringent. For example, out of the 60 people who were initially shortlisted from Himachal Pradesh, only one was selected.Manmohan Katoch, who was selected as Youth Congress president of Himachal Pradesh, said: “Earlier, people like me would have never got a chance to rise in politics. Regional politicians always promote their own family members. My father works as a clerk and I come from a small village in Kangra. I was a popular dancer and in college, I also honed my public speaking skills. Since I was popular, I was asked to organise a hunger strike to get a school built in my village. I was successful in getting a school for the village and this impressed the panel.”Those selected were personally intimated by Rahul Gandhi and were apprised of their responsibilities for the next six months. There is a half-yearly review of performance and further setting of goals. Congress leaders associated with the programme include Sachin Pilot, Ashok Gehlot and Jitin Prasada.
