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O 121527Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6983
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RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
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RUEIDN/DNI WASHINGTON DC
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 8173
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 8410
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RUMICEA/USCENTCOM INTEL CEN MACDILL AFB FL

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