PATNA: A la Rahul Gandhi who has been stressing on greater role for youths in party and politics, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar too is learned to be looking for young and educated people who can be entrusted with the task of representing people.
Well-placed JD(U) sources hinted the party would field more young people than stereotype politicians in the coming assembly election in October-November. The idea is to create a pool of politicians who could suit the changing public aspirations and cope with the changing socio-political scenario, a JD(U) leader said.
“The incumbency factor apart, Nitish is personally interested in bringing forth fresh faces who have the zeal to do something for the society; who command respect and acceptability and whose personality is unlike traditional netas,” said a JD(U) MP.
Nitish has given a hint of his thinking on this issue in his blog posted last week.
“Criminals and musclemen are no longer the role models for the youth who are scripting a new standard for the people’s representatives,” the blog reads.
Nitish said he, during his Vishwas Yatra, clearly noticed that youths are now seeing those who are positively contributing to social and educational fields as their role models.
“This is really an effective social change which, in the coming days, will help build a healthy and progressive social order which no longer will tolerate mediocrity in the society, politics and administration.”
Nitish, in his blog in Hindi, has concluded that youths have started laying the foundation of a high benchmark for policy-makers. “I view this as a beginning of a long-term social change and this will be my endeavour to accept this as a healthy challenge in course of fulfilling my political and administrative responsibilities,” he blogged.
Appreciating the CM’s viewpoint, UK-educated Nitish Mishra, who also served as a minister of state in the Nitish government, said the general mindset of the people is in favour of having young and educated people as their representatives in the legislature.
“Traditional politicians rarely emerge as role models,” said Mishra who was elected one of the youth icons by the MTV music channel last year.