<p>Manicka Tagore—his school-teacher father named him after the young Congressman’s grandfather Manickambalam and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore—was told by Rahul “to go and contest and give a good fight” and not to bother about winning or losing. Tagore turned the fight into a stunning victory.<br /><br />“I come from a Congress family. My grandfather was an MLA in the 1960s. But my father preferred to be a school teacher. Rajiv Gandhi visited our school in 1988, and I was so impressed by him that I was determined to get active in the Congress”, Tagore told Deccan Herald here on Thursday.<br />Tagore, who got into the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), the students’ wing of the Congress, came to Delhi in 1998 and was given charge of Delhi University (DU). “I worked as a backroom boy. The Congress won all the four seats at DU as party supremo Sonia Gandhi had addressed a meeting there,” he added.<br /><br />He was moved to the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) later. In 2007, after Rahul was given charge of the IYC, he recognised Tagore’s work and asked him to look after several states. Karnataka was one of them. Tagore has another Karnataka link too—he studied at a law college in Tumkur.<br /><br />Tagore says Rahul wants to democratise the IYC. “Earlier, there was no data regarding the members. All that we had was a receipt for the membership fee paid. Now, Rahul has begun a new drive. The pilot project started with Punjab where detailed data regarding every IYC member is available. The IYC elections are over in four states, and the rest will be completed in 2011,” he says. How was the win against the giant possible at Virudhunagar? “I became the candidate only at a later stage, as the local Congress unit and our ally the DMK wanted a change. Then Rahul suggested my name. By that time, tempo had already been built”. <br /><br />What were the issues? “While Vaiko spoke only of Sri Lanka, Tamil civilians and LTTE, I was for change and development. I did not promise them I would turn the constituency into another Singapore, but I told the people I would work with them. The job guarantee scheme (NREGA) greatly helped me. The scheme has doubled and trebled daily wages elsewhere in Tamil Nadu. The people, who had had enough during the 11 years of the DMDK representation of the constituency, wanted change”.<br />What did Rahul tell him after the victory? <br /><br />“Well done! You have done your job,” the Congress heir apparent told the debutant parliamentarian.<br />DH News Service</p>
<p>Manicka Tagore—his school-teacher father named him after the young Congressman’s grandfather Manickambalam and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore—was told by Rahul “to go and contest and give a good fight” and not to bother about winning or losing. Tagore turned the fight into a stunning victory.<br /><br />“I come from a Congress family. My grandfather was an MLA in the 1960s. But my father preferred to be a school teacher. Rajiv Gandhi visited our school in 1988, and I was so impressed by him that I was determined to get active in the Congress”, Tagore told Deccan Herald here on Thursday.<br />Tagore, who got into the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), the students’ wing of the Congress, came to Delhi in 1998 and was given charge of Delhi University (DU). “I worked as a backroom boy. The Congress won all the four seats at DU as party supremo Sonia Gandhi had addressed a meeting there,” he added.<br /><br />He was moved to the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) later. In 2007, after Rahul was given charge of the IYC, he recognised Tagore’s work and asked him to look after several states. Karnataka was one of them. Tagore has another Karnataka link too—he studied at a law college in Tumkur.<br /><br />Tagore says Rahul wants to democratise the IYC. “Earlier, there was no data regarding the members. All that we had was a receipt for the membership fee paid. Now, Rahul has begun a new drive. The pilot project started with Punjab where detailed data regarding every IYC member is available. The IYC elections are over in four states, and the rest will be completed in 2011,” he says. How was the win against the giant possible at Virudhunagar? “I became the candidate only at a later stage, as the local Congress unit and our ally the DMK wanted a change. Then Rahul suggested my name. By that time, tempo had already been built”. <br /><br />What were the issues? “While Vaiko spoke only of Sri Lanka, Tamil civilians and LTTE, I was for change and development. I did not promise them I would turn the constituency into another Singapore, but I told the people I would work with them. The job guarantee scheme (NREGA) greatly helped me. The scheme has doubled and trebled daily wages elsewhere in Tamil Nadu. The people, who had had enough during the 11 years of the DMDK representation of the constituency, wanted change”.<br />What did Rahul tell him after the victory? <br /><br />“Well done! You have done your job,” the Congress heir apparent told the debutant parliamentarian.<br />DH News Service</p>
