Perhaps about 15 consecutive years without being the son, grandson or great grandson of the Prime Ministers of India has given Rahul Gandhi a 
perspective that his father never had. Back in 2002, when Vajpayee was the unquestionable leader of India and the Congress was a party in ‘terminal’ decline, his sister Priyanka Vadra took the initiative and launched the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust in Amethi. The trust launched a scheme called the Rajiv Gandhi Mahila Vikas Pariyojna (RGMPV) to help poor and destitute women earn a sustainable livelihood. Please do recall that the media pundits who are now gushing about Rahul Gandhi as the future of India did not have the time to write even a few words about him; except perhaps a few disparaging and condescending adjectives. Today, RGMVP is spread across 50 blocks in 12 backward districts of Uttar Pradesh with more than 18,000 self help groups.
It helps being in power. No doubt, RGMVP now has a corpus of Rs 90 million with public sector banks providing cumulative access of almost Rs one billion (Rs 100 crore) in credit to these groups. According to Congress insiders – who predictably don’t want to go on record – the scheme has already directly benefited almost a quarter of a million women who are now die hard Congress voters and supporters. Incidentally, many Lok Sabha constituencies where the Congress won surprising victories in the 2009 elections are those with a fair smattering of these beneficiaries and their families.
This charitable trust – started when the Gandhi family was not sure of ever coming back to power – now looks like a masterful electoral strategy. And Rahul Gandhi and his team are determined to replicate this everywhere else in the country. Even the modest success achieved in UP was a mammoth task and challenge. How does one extend it across India? The simple answer is: people who are committed; who don’t run after television cameras for the 30 seconds of fame and people whom Rahul Gandhi can trust. Too much has already been written and talked about the key advisors and trusted lieutenants of Rahul Gandhi to rewrite their biographies in this brief space. But just as a reminder, the people on whom the Prime Minister in waiting relies upon for suggestions, advice, feedback and brainstorming are Kanishka Singh, Jitin Prasad, Ashok Tanwar, Meenakshi Natarajan, Sachin Rao, Jitendra Singh, Sachin Pilot, Priya Dutt and Jyotiraditya Scindia (given the fierceness with which his close advisors refuse to reveal details, this does not claim to be a definitive list). Along with these advisors, Rahul is executing a plan to pepper each state with talented and young leaders who can walk and talk development and poverty eradication. Compared to the Rajiv Gandhi days, Rahul’s team has the advantage that the UPA government is spending tonnes and tonnes of money on ‘voter-friendly’ social welfare programmes like NREGA.
perspective that his father never had. Back in 2002, when Vajpayee was the unquestionable leader of India and the Congress was a party in ‘terminal’ decline, his sister Priyanka Vadra took the initiative and launched the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust in Amethi. The trust launched a scheme called the Rajiv Gandhi Mahila Vikas Pariyojna (RGMPV) to help poor and destitute women earn a sustainable livelihood. Please do recall that the media pundits who are now gushing about Rahul Gandhi as the future of India did not have the time to write even a few words about him; except perhaps a few disparaging and condescending adjectives. Today, RGMVP is spread across 50 blocks in 12 backward districts of Uttar Pradesh with more than 18,000 self help groups.It helps being in power. No doubt, RGMVP now has a corpus of Rs 90 million with public sector banks providing cumulative access of almost Rs one billion (Rs 100 crore) in credit to these groups. According to Congress insiders – who predictably don’t want to go on record – the scheme has already directly benefited almost a quarter of a million women who are now die hard Congress voters and supporters. Incidentally, many Lok Sabha constituencies where the Congress won surprising victories in the 2009 elections are those with a fair smattering of these beneficiaries and their families.
This charitable trust – started when the Gandhi family was not sure of ever coming back to power – now looks like a masterful electoral strategy. And Rahul Gandhi and his team are determined to replicate this everywhere else in the country. Even the modest success achieved in UP was a mammoth task and challenge. How does one extend it across India? The simple answer is: people who are committed; who don’t run after television cameras for the 30 seconds of fame and people whom Rahul Gandhi can trust. Too much has already been written and talked about the key advisors and trusted lieutenants of Rahul Gandhi to rewrite their biographies in this brief space. But just as a reminder, the people on whom the Prime Minister in waiting relies upon for suggestions, advice, feedback and brainstorming are Kanishka Singh, Jitin Prasad, Ashok Tanwar, Meenakshi Natarajan, Sachin Rao, Jitendra Singh, Sachin Pilot, Priya Dutt and Jyotiraditya Scindia (given the fierceness with which his close advisors refuse to reveal details, this does not claim to be a definitive list). Along with these advisors, Rahul is executing a plan to pepper each state with talented and young leaders who can walk and talk development and poverty eradication. Compared to the Rajiv Gandhi days, Rahul’s team has the advantage that the UPA government is spending tonnes and tonnes of money on ‘voter-friendly’ social welfare programmes like NREGA.
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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative
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