GenNext: Stuck between blue cheese and bajra

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Priyanka, Priya, Supriya, and Rahul, Milind, Jitin, Sachin, Poonam - the papers are filled with their rural visits, cheeky smiles, and quotable quotes. "Are you the Congress party's Brahmastra?" someone asks Priyanka Gandhi. She answers, "The problem with the Brahmastra is that it can be used only once."

"Is your brother under his wife's thumb?" someone asks Priya Dutt. "You'll have to check with his wife."

"How can an urban Mumbai girl like you understand your rural constituency?" Surpiya Sule is asked. "When you have blue cheese on one side and bajra on another in a constituency, you learn."

They're witty and sassy, and everyone is buying. This is the year the country's political GenNext has come into their own - the big election where they claim they're going it alone, no longer winning votes on their fathers' names, but on their own merit. That is debatable as the shadows of their fathers (even if deceased) follow them wherever they go. But without doubt, this time, they are the toast of the general elections...every time they break a coconut here, fold their hands in greeting there, disarming smiles firmly in place, as easy in Prada pants as in a starched chikan kameez, they often end up in your morning newspaper, each day, hogging as much column space and airtime as their fathers did, often for much less reason.

The media loves to chronicle their upper-crust lifestyles, that inevitably makes it to dinner table conversation where heads nod, 'yes, they seem to be one of us'. Priya Dutt is a certified scuba diver, and loves holidaying in Krabi. Wharton-educated Sachin Pilot's passions are flying, shooting and squash. Jitin Prasada has a yen for yachting and horse riding. Milind Deora plays jazz on his guitar, Poonam Mahajan is a trained pilot (she's not been given a ticket this time though), Supriya Sule - the wealthiest of them all at Rs 52 crores of declared assets - shuttles between properties in Mumbai, Singapore (where she lived 10 years), and California.

They're featured in Verve and Vogue and are completely unapologetic about their wealth and passions. If their fathers were targeted for ill-gotten gain, the wealthy heirs see no reason to be held responsible for it. "My businessman husband, Sadanand, works hard to make his money," says Supriya in an interview to Verve. "It would be foolish on my part to hide our wealth. I am not that simple. What most people consider luxuries are my necessities but we have earned them. We pay taxes on our income as law abiding individuals so why should we hide what we have?"

Why indeed? When they lead rallies, their sloganeering party workers somehow don't see the gaping chasm that separates their backgrounds from that of their leader. Because whether it's Priyanka, Priya, Supriya, Rahul, Milind, Jitin, or Poonam, their charm with the crowds is undeniable. The suave certainty, and cool media savvy that could never have come to their parents, some of whom leaped much greater distances - farmer to politician (Sharad Pawar), doodhwala to Air Force pilot (Rajesh Pilot), English teacher in Ambejogai village to BJP spin doctor (Pramod Mahajan) - their childrens' demeanour and likeability may be their only credentials for now, but it sure seems to be working with the aam aadmi as well.

Supriya puts it quite bluntly, "The media loves us because we speak English. There are so many giants in politics, who have done great things, but don't speak in English, so the media ignores them!"

She may be right. For example, Milind Deora and Priya Dutt are contesting from what should be their home turfs, south Mumbai, and NorthCentral Mumbai respectively - they are regarded as Mumbai's most promising politicians from the GenNext. But the fact remains that out of 48 seats in Maharashtra, the six seats from Mumbai will not really matter. What will decide the government here is, in short, the price of sugar and other commodities that affect rural Maharashtra, almost 80 per cent of the voter base.

So are these really the faces of new India? Or as Sule pointed out, is the media's love for them only predicated on their English-speaking abilities? They are no doubt dealing with large constituencies - Supriya has 15.5 lakh voters in her constituency, Priya has 16 lakh voters, Milind has 19 lakh voters, etc. They're the trump cards of the Congress party for the future that is willfully cultivating these urban leaders - something the BJP sees as a waste of time, instead focusing on Varun Gandhi, that they feel will pull in the real votes, and shunning a promising Poonam thanks to internal party politics.

Are they right? Is GenNext really occupying more mindspace than market space? Once the shadows of their fathers are past, will they on their own steam gather the numbers to represent real India? We like them, we may have voted for them last time because of their fathers, will we vote for them this time? 2009 could answer these questions.