It was Sanjay Gandhi, many many years ago, who realised the value and worth of youth power and harnessed it for the benefit of the nation. He identified and collected a band of young men around him, dedicated and infused with the fervour of their age, to work with him in not only advancing his mother’s (Prime Minister Indira Gandhi) policies and programmes but also in taking up various activities that would benefit the Congress Party and strengthen its position all over the country. Key young men were appointed or posted in the various States to ‘rejuvenate’ the cadres of the Congress Party and keep them enthusiastic and committed.

It is ironic that while the Congress Party, today, has forgotten this lesson which Sanjay Gandhi adopted and put to good use, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has taken a leaf from his book and is implementing it with full vigour. The BJP not only has a young and dynamic president but the office bearers and members of various committees are of an age level far below ‘normal’. The BJP seems to have realised that it is the youth of today that holds the reins of the future and will be able to lead the party forward.