INDIAN "YOUTH WAVE": NEW STARS IN THE PARLIAMENT

UNCLAS NEW DELHI 001226

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PTER PREL PINR KDEM IN
SUBJECT: INDIAN "YOUTH WAVE": NEW STARS IN THE PARLIAMENT
PANTHEON

REF: A. NEW DELHI 1083

B. NEW DELHI 1072


1. (SBU) Summary: Media coverage of the 2009 parliamentary
election highlighted the possible emergence of a generational
change in Indian politics, with the spotlight on Rahul Gandhi
as well as a large contingent of young contestants vying for
seats in the Lok Sabha (the lower house of Parliament).
Seventy-nine of the new Lok Sabha's 543 members are under the
age of 40. As the media played it, these young MPs represent
the future leaders of India and embody the hopes and
aspirations of a very young India, where 65 percent of the
total population is under the age of 35. There may be less
to this "youth wave" in Indian politics than suggested by the
Bollywood-style breathless media attention paid to these
young political stars. Many, perhaps even a majority, of
these young MPs are merely scions of India's powerful
political families and could represent a continuation of the
"old guard" Indian political establishment rather than any
substantive change. Others have been hand-picked by Rahul
Gandhi, and for them loyalty to the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty is
the primary political anchor. End Summary.

Youth Wave: More Hype Than Substance?
---


2. (U) Political analysts have long been forecasting the
emergence of younger leaders on the national political scene.
In the run-up to parliamentary elections in April-May, local
press followed closely the political campaigns of Rahul
Gandhi and other fresh-faced politicians. These future
leaders were made out to represent the "hopes and
aspirations" of India's sizeable youth population, in which
65 percent of India's 1.15 billion population is under the
age of 35. However, some political observers believe the
"youth wave" is media hype and will have minimal impact on
the Indian political landscape. They point out that this Lok
Sabha is only slightly younger than than the previous -- 79
MPs below 40 in this parliament verses 60 in the preceding
parliament. Political contacts also noted that only six of
these MPs have found their way in to the Council of
Ministers, all as junior ministers, and none in the cabinet
or with independent charge of a portfolio.

Politics in the Blood
---


3. (U) Most of the young MPs from the 15th Lok Sabha hail
from political dynasties, coupling youthful vigor with
instant name recognition and deep ties to the old guard
political establishment. Three of teh young ministers owe
their election and jobs to their parents. U.S-educated
Sachin Pilot, two-time MP from Rajasthan, is the son of
Congress Party heavyweight, Rajesh Pilot. Agatha Sangma, MP
from Meghalaya and the youngest member of the Council of
Ministers, is the daughter of Nationalist Congress Party
leader and former Lok Sabha speaker, P.A. Sangma.
Jyotiraditya Scindia, MP from Madhya Pradesh, is from the
former royal family of Gwalior and entered politics after his
father, veteran Congress leader Madhavrao Scindia, died in a
plane crash. At age 26, the youngest voice among the
political rookies is Muhammed Hamdulla Sayeed. He represents
the sole seat from the island of Lakshadweep, which he
contested after the death of his father, P.M. Sayeed, the
former Union Power Minister.

New Faces
---


4. (U) While Scindia, Pilot and Sangma hail from political
families, MPs like Meenakshi Natarajan and Ashok Tanwar have
risen from within the Indian National Congress's student wing
to national prominence after hard fought elections battles.
Ashok Tanwar, part of Rahul Gandhi's handpicked coterie, was
appointed President of the Indian Youth Congress in 2005. He

oversaw important organizational changes, including the
first-ever internal elections for officers of the Punjab
Youth Congress (Ref. B). Meenakshi Natarajan was selected by
Rahul Gandhi to serve as the All India Congress Committee
(AICC) Secretary in 2008. In her incarnation as AICC
Secretary Natarajan has been passionate about youth
involvement in politics, demanding more effective and
efficient delivery of rural development programs from elected
officials.

Youth Induction into Ministries: Legacy in Action
---


5. (U) Jyotiraditya Scindia, 38 years old, is the new
Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, a key portfolio
for the U.S.-India relationship. He represents Guna in
Madhya Pradesh in the 15th Lok Sabha. An active participant
in parliamentary debates, the articulate Scindia is a
prominent voice among the younger generation of party
leaders. He was Minister of State for Communications and
Information Technology in tha previous UPA government.
Hailing from the former royal family of Gwalior, Scindia
entered politics in 2002, following the death of his father,
veteran Congress leader Madhavrao Scindia.


6. (SBU) Sachin Pilot, the 31-year old Minister of State for
Communications and Information Technology, is a two-term
member of the Lok Sabha and a first time minister. He
represents the constituency of Ajmer in Rajasthan. A rising
star in the Congress party, analysts believe that Pilot was
assigned the Communications and IT portfolio to keep an eye
on his boss, coalition partner DMK,s A. Raju, who returned
as cabinet minister despite widespread accusations of large
scale corruption in the issuance of telecom licenses and
spectrum during his previous tenure in the first UPA
government. There is also speculation that Pilot is a better
fit for this portfolio because of his technical orientation
and youthful vision. At 26 years of age in 2004, Pilot was
the youngest elected member of the 14th Lok Sabha. His
father, the late Rajesh Pilot, was a powerful Congress leader
from the wealthy Gujjar community in Rajasthan. Pilot is
married to Sara Abdullah, daughter of Dr. Farooqh Abdullah,
Minister for New and Renewable Energy and former Chief
Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. The M.B.A grad from the
Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania has a loyal media
following.


7. (U) Agatha Sangma, 28 years old, is the new Minister of
State for Rural Development. Daughter of former Lok Sabha
Speaker P.A Sangma, she is the youngest minister in the
Council of Ministers. Sagma represents Tura in Meghalaya, a
tribal-populated state in Northeastern India. She is a
member of the Nationalist Congress Party, of which her father
was one of the founding members in the 1990s. Promising to
be "voice of the far-off North-East", the quiet Sangma is a
member of the Delhi Bar Association and an amateur
photographer.

Comment: No Significant Change
--------------


8. (SBU) Despite the clamor and excitement generated in the
media by the young MPs, it is not clear if these new
legislators will prove to be a formidable force in national
politics. While the new crop of leaders may be modern in
their outlook and western-educated, most of them were either
handpicked by Rahul Gandhi or are relatives of successful
politicians. In the end, these younger MPs may represent no
significant change in the "old guard" of the political
establishment. End Comment.
BURLEIGH