Decoding Rahul Gandhi by Aarthi Ramachandran

Author:Aarthi Ramachandran [Ramachandran, Aarthi]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mobilism
Publisher: Westland Publishing
Published: 2012-09-20T00:00:00+00:00

10

A STRATEGY CONSULTANT GOES TO WORK

Manicka Tagore, the first-time MP from Virudhnagar in Tamil Nadu, defeated no less than Marumalarchi Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam’s (MDMK) ‘Vaiko’, the firebrand, pro-LTTE veteran in the 2009 Parliamentary elections. At thirty-six, he is of average height, plump with a prominent belly, black hair and a thick black moustache. He was dressed like a new-age corporate executive – a pale violet checked shirt tucked into greyish-black trousers and topped off with a black sports jacket.

Tagore hails from Shivaganga in Southern Tamil Nadu, which is Congress leader and now Home Minister P Chidambaram’s Parliamentary seat. His father was a Tamil school teacher. ‘I got interested in politics during my early years and joined the NSUI. Rajiv Gandhi was my idol along with Rajesh Pilot,’ Tagore recounted.

His fortunes changed with his decision not to join G K Moopanar’s break-away group, the Tamil Maanila Congress in 1996. ‘You can call it luck or anything else,’ he admitted and acknowledged it was his decision to stay on with the Congress that finally led to his induction into Rahul’s team. Just to buttress his loyalties, the wall behind him had a picture of a smiling Rahul, framed in the orange, white, and green of the Indian flag.

Tagore is among the group of leaders being groomed by Rahul to play a bigger role in their respective states. This group includes Jitendra Singh (Rajasthan), Meenakshi Natarajan (Madhya Pradesh), Ashok Tanwar (Haryana), Ravneet Singh ‘Bittu’ (Punjab), Vijay Inder Singla (Punjab), Mausam Benazir Noor (West Bengal) among others. They became first-time Lok Sabha MPs in 2009 after being given nominations at Rahul’s behest.

Tagore became a national general secretary in the NSUI in 1998 and was put in charge of the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) elections between 1999 and 2002. ‘My work in the DUSU elections showed the leadership what I was capable of,’ he said. After that, he was promoted to the IYC as a general secretary.

He was in the Youth Congress when Rahul took over in 2007 and was among the older lot of promising leaders drafted by ‘Team RG’ to rebuild the organization. His work got him a nomination from Virudhnagar. ‘I never asked for the seat,’ he said, talking of the new ‘culture’ of merit under Rahul.

But it was not always like that. ‘We came into politics under the appointment system. You had to be a loyalist, or you had to work very hard and hope to be recognized, or you needed to have money, or be the son of a senior leader to get a post in the Youth Congress in those days,’ he said.

Through the 1990s and 2000s, the IYC and NSUI were moribund organizations. The Congress’ factional chiefs cornered posts to dole them out to their supporters. ‘If you went to the Youth Congress office in Delhi before the merit system was introduced, you found men with thick gold chains, leaning against their big cars, sipping tea and gossiping in the evening. Once a year, they would go to Jantar Mantar (where protests are held in Delhi) and participate in token agitations.

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