The Great Indian Political Debate - 2

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<!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif' /><!--endemo--> PAGE 1 ANCHOR Why Cong student leaders are rushing to learn Vande Mataram
Varghese K GeorgePosted online: Thursday, July 20, 2006 at 0000 hrs Print EmailQuestions at the NSUI interviews range from party history to text of Jhanda Uncha; those who sex up CVs are sweating more

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NEW DELHI, JULY 19:For Vinod Tripathi, general secretary of the Lucknow University Students Union, joining MA in Yogic Sciences was more about prolonging his student politics than salvation-seeking.

He had no clue yoga could be a nuisance in his political career, until last Friday when he was interviewed for a post in the National Student’s Union of India (NSUI), the student body of the Congress.

‘‘Show me Vajrasana,’’ he was asked by Congress Working Committee (CWC) member Oscar Fernandes. Tripathi did not have a clue. Then he was asked about other yogic postures. He had no answers so he was asked to be a good student of his subject first and then get back.

It’s more than street-smartness at test for aspirants for nearly 20 top posts of the NSUI, who are being interviewed by Fernandes and AICC secretary Sanjay Bapna. Last week, 60 student leaders faced the interview board, and those who sexed up their CVs sweated more. ‘‘The high command wants a new generation which is ideologically sound and versatile—doing well in academics besides politics,’’ Bapna says of the revised recruitment strategy.

The standard questions include: who is the founder of the Congress, when was the Congress formed, the first woman president of the party, who authored Vande Mataram? The mandatory component of the test is singing Vande Mataram or Jana Gana Mana and the flag song of the Congress, Jhanda Uncha Rahe Hamara.

Though Bapna insists the boys are doing ‘‘excellent,’’ the ‘boys’ are not too happy after hit by the surprise interview. The first-ever ideological test has thrown up several moments of fun for the interview board—one candidate said he could sing Vande Mataram only in a group; another said Nehru was the first president of the Congress. Warned of the impending encounter, a girl messaged her friend for the entire text of Vande Mataram.

The leadership also insists that all recommendations for various posts must also grade the candidates on a scale of 10 for ideological commitment, communication skills, social service, and inter-personal skills. The grading will soon be done for existing office-bearers of the youth and student wings of the party also. ‘‘We want good managers, sportspersons, teachers and lawyers joining the party. The present exercise is an attempt at that,” a senior leader said.

But the entrenched groups of youth-student leaders are nervous. In the first appointment under the new policy, Wamshi Reddy, a doctor and a new entrant, has been appointed president of Andhra Pradesh NSU, ignoring several others.

Meanwhile, the old guard has taken a break from making rounds of the houses of senior leaders to brush up their general knowledge

varghese.george@expressindia.com