They say that politics is a dirty game. Which has always given more of a reason to most sophisticatedly educated youngsters to stay away from it. Except that there are a few who are now becoming an active part of it and changing the game working as "backroom boys". Yesterday, the Economic Times had a very interesting profile article about one such man behind the scenes, Kanishka Singh.
Kanishka is a computer engineer from St. Stephen's, Delhi and an MBA from Wharton School of Business. He is 34 years old and currently working as the Chief Strategist for Congress MP and General Secretary, Rahul Gandhi's political campaign. He is what they call "Rahul Gandhi's close aide, confidante, advisor and gatekeeper." Gone are the days when old political leaders made campaign decisions based on gut feel and candidate relationships. The younger political lot is educated and wants numbers, percentages, graphs and heavy duty analysis to decide everything from the likely names for election candidates to the total number of rally meetings that would be apt for campaigning. Which is exactly what Kanishka does for Rahul - a lot of number crunching & running spreadsheets. He is the man who is responsible for election strategy, analysis and management and is helping Rahul Gandhi get an edge by creating a major transformation in the approach towards the political battleground. Like Kanishka said in an interview, "By the end of campaigning, Rahul would have done 200 public meetings. That's one rally for every two assembly seats." Prior to taking up his current assignment, Kanishka was an investment banker on the Wall Street working for Lazard, Freres & Co. in New York and worked for Delhi Chief Minister, Sheila Dixit's office in her run-up to the election win in 2003.
Kanishka reminds me of Peter Brand, a Yale economics graduate who was hired by Billy Beane, General Manager of the Oakland Athletics in 2002 to help him build a competitive baseball team based on analytical and sabarmetric approach. Peter Brand's non-traditional approach towards scouting players using rigorous statistical analysis such as on base percentage flew in the face of conventional and collected wisdom of baseball insiders (coaches, players, managers, scouts, executives) and went on to make history by helping the financially strained Oaklands to win 20 consecutive games & create an American League record during the 2002 Major League Baseball season. The new approach by Billy Beane - Peter Brand duo made such an impact that it eventually led major baseball teams such as New York Yankees, New York Mets, St. Louis Cardinals, Boston Red Sox & Cleveland Indians to hire full time sabermetric analysts to help them with player evaluation & keep a true statistical view of their team. Thanks to Bille Beane, Peter Brand and their unwavering faith in analytical gaming, Oakland Athletics, the poor underdog team created a baseball revolution.
Rahul Gandhi - Kanishka Singh might just end up being the Billy Beane - Peter Brand duo of Indian politics. People like Kanishka are the new kids on the political horizon with a world class education, lots of confidence and the drive to make a difference. They are questioning the status quo & the conventional wisdom with which Indian politics is run. These kids might be the back benchers now but who knows, they might be at the forefront some day and be running our government as the next wave of political leaders? Wikipedia is already defining Kanishka Singh as an Indian politician. I hope more & more educated people like Kanishka receive & take up such opportunities in the future because I have a feeling that if anything, they will definitely re-define Indian politics.
Kanishka Singh
Courtesy: Google Images
Kanishka is a computer engineer from St. Stephen's, Delhi and an MBA from Wharton School of Business. He is 34 years old and currently working as the Chief Strategist for Congress MP and General Secretary, Rahul Gandhi's political campaign. He is what they call "Rahul Gandhi's close aide, confidante, advisor and gatekeeper." Gone are the days when old political leaders made campaign decisions based on gut feel and candidate relationships. The younger political lot is educated and wants numbers, percentages, graphs and heavy duty analysis to decide everything from the likely names for election candidates to the total number of rally meetings that would be apt for campaigning. Which is exactly what Kanishka does for Rahul - a lot of number crunching & running spreadsheets. He is the man who is responsible for election strategy, analysis and management and is helping Rahul Gandhi get an edge by creating a major transformation in the approach towards the political battleground. Like Kanishka said in an interview, "By the end of campaigning, Rahul would have done 200 public meetings. That's one rally for every two assembly seats." Prior to taking up his current assignment, Kanishka was an investment banker on the Wall Street working for Lazard, Freres & Co. in New York and worked for Delhi Chief Minister, Sheila Dixit's office in her run-up to the election win in 2003.
Kanishka reminds me of Peter Brand, a Yale economics graduate who was hired by Billy Beane, General Manager of the Oakland Athletics in 2002 to help him build a competitive baseball team based on analytical and sabarmetric approach. Peter Brand's non-traditional approach towards scouting players using rigorous statistical analysis such as on base percentage flew in the face of conventional and collected wisdom of baseball insiders (coaches, players, managers, scouts, executives) and went on to make history by helping the financially strained Oaklands to win 20 consecutive games & create an American League record during the 2002 Major League Baseball season. The new approach by Billy Beane - Peter Brand duo made such an impact that it eventually led major baseball teams such as New York Yankees, New York Mets, St. Louis Cardinals, Boston Red Sox & Cleveland Indians to hire full time sabermetric analysts to help them with player evaluation & keep a true statistical view of their team. Thanks to Bille Beane, Peter Brand and their unwavering faith in analytical gaming, Oakland Athletics, the poor underdog team created a baseball revolution.
Rahul Gandhi - Kanishka Singh might just end up being the Billy Beane - Peter Brand duo of Indian politics. People like Kanishka are the new kids on the political horizon with a world class education, lots of confidence and the drive to make a difference. They are questioning the status quo & the conventional wisdom with which Indian politics is run. These kids might be the back benchers now but who knows, they might be at the forefront some day and be running our government as the next wave of political leaders? Wikipedia is already defining Kanishka Singh as an Indian politician. I hope more & more educated people like Kanishka receive & take up such opportunities in the future because I have a feeling that if anything, they will definitely re-define Indian politics.
Courtesy: Google Images
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