LEAD INDIA: Who will win the battle?
As the famous quote goes 'Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country' by John F Kennedy, The Times of India's Lead India campaign offered this very opportunity to do something for the country to all those hopefuls who are passionate to make a change but don't have the sources or the platform.
On August 15, India's 60th Independence Day, Bennett, Coleman & Co launched Lead India, a TV initiative to hunt and identify new leaders for a new India. Thirty bright and committed candidates were selected from 30,000-odd applicants who were further narrowed down to eight, each representing eight different cities.
Devang Nanavati (Ahmedabad), Rajendra Misra (Bangalore), Sanjiv Kaura (Delhi), Soumya Mishra (Hyderabad), Dipayan Dey (Kolkata), Abha Singh (Lucknow), Ujjwal Banerjee (Mumbai) and Ranjit Gadgil (Pune), the finalists were put through a series of rigorous contests aimed at testing their leadership skills. After 10 weeks of excitement, drama and nail-biting suspense, it has finally come down to the final two, Devang Nanavati (Ahmedabad) vs Rajendra Misra (Bangalore).
Indeed, the time has come to choose our leader. As a generation of today, we have lost the faith in our government and the system as a whole. Politicians to us have become a bunch of stand-up comedians. Well, with Lead India, there's a chance of a new revolution. We might not have participated in this campaign but we can definitely help in choosing the new breed that has the vision and ability to empower India. To make it a little easier for you, we give you a brief introduction on the finalist's manifestos featured in the last episode.
Student Mentoring and Counselling is first on Devang Nanavati's agenda. His mission is to empower the youth by providing an outlet for their emotional, personal and social problems through counseling and workshops. RK Misra's focal plan is on the similar lines, Primary Education. His mission is to sensitise the rural population and get the teachers exposed to modern teaching methods. Basically, creating an awareness to improve the quality of education especially in rural India. The rest of both of their manifestos contained similar points like stress on education, internal security as well as the need to focus on rural economy.
One must have voted 10 times for their favourite Indian Idol, but the true Indian Idol is someone who can bring about a change for the welfare of the people and the country. So, go ahead and make your choice known. And don't forget to catch the grand finale on Feb 9 at 8 pm IST on Star one.
